Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
Swipe or use the arrow keys.
Facing Pages · Branch 109 of 121
1835 · May 7, 1835
French
p. 217Le 7 mai.
Vous souffrez aujourd’hui de la poésie sans issue qui remplit votre être. Cette douleur est terrible, mais si belle ! Consolez-vous dans la noble et rare nature de vos tourments : il y a tant d’hommes qui souffrent autant que vous pour des misères! Vous avez un privilège dans la douleur; que voulez-vous de plus ici-bas?
Ce que tout homme d’une certaine nature plutôt écartée que supérieure garde avec le plus de vigilance, c’est le secret de son âme et des habitudes intimes de ses pensées. J’aime ce dieu Harpocrate, son index sur sa bouche.
The Green Notebook: 1835
p. 218May 7, 1835
Today you suffer from the poetry without outlet which fills your being. That pain is terrible, but so beautiful! Take consolation in the noble and rare nature of your torments: so many men suffer as much as you for wretched things! You have a privilege in sorrow; what more do you want here below?
What every man of a certain nature, set apart rather than superior, guards most vigilantly is the secret of his soul and the intimate habits of his thoughts. I love that god Harpocrates, his forefinger upon his mouth.
Socrates
Reading The Green Notebook · 1835 · May 7, 1835
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.