Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
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French Page · Branch 54 of 121
1833 · Le 1er septembre.
French
p. 107Le 1er septembre.
Mon Dieu, voilà donc comment finissent toutes choses : des regrets, des larmes! Voici une heure que je suis de retour d’un petit voyage charmant, et je pleure comme un enfant, et je me consume à regretter un bonheur que j’aurais dû prendre sans m’y attacher, sachant qu’il devait être fort court; mais c’est toujours ainsi. Toutes les fois que je rencontre quelque petit bonheur, c’est une désolation quand il faut nous séparer, parce que je sais que je vais retomber dans moi-même et reprendre ma routine douloureuse.
The Green Notebook: 1833
p. 108September 1, 1833
My God, so this is how all things end: regrets, tears! It is an hour since I returned from a charming little journey, and I weep like a child, consuming myself in longing for a happiness I should have taken without attaching myself to it, knowing it must be very brief; but it is always so. Whenever I encounter some little happiness, it is desolation when we must part, because I know I shall fall back into myself and resume my painful routine.
Socrates
Reading The Green Notebook · 1833 · September 1, 1833
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Maurice de Guérin’s journal moves between close attention to nature, friendship, faith, and the inward demands of poetry. This bilingual edition presents the complete Journal section of the 1864 printing, with a separate appendix of earlier printed passages from 1861.
Historical Text and Translation
The French follows G. S. Trébutien’s sixth edition of Journal, lettres et poèmes (Paris: Didier et Cie, 1864), pages 3–126. Its 116 dated entries run from July 1832 to October 1835. Five earlier passages from Reliquiae (1861) appear separately in the appendix. Completeness refers to the printed Journal, rather than the autograph notebook; the following letters and poems are outside this edition.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation directly from the French, preserving Guérin’s imagery, repetitions, intimate voice, and original paragraph divisions. French and English remain aligned for comparison. Translator’s notes clarify words, quotations, and allusions, while historical editor notes retain their separate attribution. The Essential setting keeps explanations useful to reading; All also includes the note on the edition’s typographic treatment.
Rights
The historical French printings are in the public domain in the United States. The independent English translation and new editorial notes are © 2026 Diotimos Editions. The linked facsimiles identify the printed witnesses used for this edition. Historical annotations and editorial conjectures remain attributed to their source editors, and the earlier variant passages are presented separately from the later Journal text.