Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 71 of 121
1834 · Paris, February 1, 1834
French
p. 141Paris, 1er février.
Mon Dieu, fermez mes yeux, gardez-moi de voir toute cette multitude dont la vue soulève en moi des pensées si amères, si décourageantes. Faites qu’en la traversant je sois sourd au bruit, inaccessible à ces impressions qui m’accablent quand je passe parmi la foule; et pour cela mettez devant mes yeux une image, une vision des choses que j’aime, un champ, un vallon, une lande, le Cayla, le Val, quelque chose de la nature. Je marcherai le regard attaché sur ces douces formes, et je passerai sans ressentir aucun froissement.
The Green Notebook: 1834
p. 142Paris, February 1, 1834
My God, close my eyes, keep me from seeing all this multitude whose sight raises in me thoughts so bitter, so discouraging. Grant that, as I pass through it, I may be deaf to the noise, beyond the reach of those impressions which overwhelm me when I walk among the crowd; and to this end place before my eyes an image, a vision of the things I love, a field, a valley, a heath, Le Cayla, Le Val, something of nature. I shall walk with my gaze fixed upon these gentle forms, and pass without feeling any hurt.
Socrates
Reading The Green Notebook · 1834 · Paris, February 1, 1834
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.