Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
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French Page · Branch 16 of 121
1833 · Le 19.
French
p. 31Le 19.
Promenade dans la forêt de Coëtquen. Rencontre d’un site assez remarquable pour sa sauvagerie : le chemin descend par une pente subite dans un petit ravin où coule un petit ruisseau sur un fond d’ardoise, qui donne à ses eaux une couleur noirâtre, désagréable d’abord, mais qui cesse de l’être quand on a observé son harmonie avec les troncs noirs des vieux chênes, la sombre verdure des lierres, et son contraste avec les jambes blanches et lisses des bouleaux. Un grand vent [du] nord roulait sur la forêt et lui faisait pousser de profonds mugissements. Les arbres se débattaient sous les bouffées de vent comme des furieux. Nous voyions à travers les branches les nuages qui volaient rapidement par masses noires et bizarres, et semblaient effleurer la cime des arbres. Ce grand voile sombre et flottant laissait parfois des défauts par où se glissait un rayon de soleil qui descendait comme un éclair dans le sein de la forêt. Ces passages subits de lumière donnaient à ces profondeurs si majestueuses dans l’ombre quelque chose de hagard et d’étrange, comme un rire sur les lèvres d’un mort.
The Green Notebook: 1833
p. 32March 19, 1833
A walk in the forest of Coëtquen. Came upon a place rather remarkable for its wildness: the path descends abruptly into a little ravine where a small stream flows over a bed of slate, which gives its waters a blackish color, unpleasant at first, but no longer so once one has observed its harmony with the black trunks of the old oaks, the dark greenery of the ivy, and its contrast with the birches’ smooth white legs. A great wind [from the] north rolled over the forest and made it bellow deeply. The trees struggled beneath the gusts like mad creatures. Through the branches we saw clouds flying swiftly in strange black masses, seeming to brush the treetops. This great, dark, floating veil sometimes opened in gaps through which a ray of sunlight slipped, descending like a flash of lightning into the forest’s breast. These sudden passages of light gave those depths, so majestic in shadow, something wild-eyed and strange, like a laugh upon a dead man’s lips.
Socrates
Reading The Green Notebook · 1833 · March 19, 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.