Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
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English Page · Branch 74 of 121
1834 · March 23, 1834
French
p. 147Le 23.
Oh ! que je me hâte donc de retenir ici autant qu’il est possible les ravissements de cette journée, que je me hâte d’écrire qu’en ce jour j’ai été heureux du plus sublime bonheur, celui d’un homme qui entrevoit quelque chose des voluptés du ciel, que je me suis senti puissant pour le bien et plein de l’amour de Dieu et des hommes. Oui, il faut se hâter de l’écrire, car ces nobles exaltations durent peu dans mon âme, car demain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Il me semble insupportable de paraître devant les hommes autre que l’on est devant Dieu. Mon plus rude supplice en ce moment est l’estime que les belles âmes font de moi. On dit qu’au jugement dernier le secret des consciences sera révélé à tout l’univers : je voudrais qu’il en fût ainsi de moi dès aujourd’hui et que la vue de mon âme fût ouverte à tous venants.
The Green Notebook: 1834
p. 148March 23, 1834
Oh! Let me hasten, then, to hold here as much as I can of the raptures of this day; let me hasten to write that on this day I have known the most sublime happiness, that of a man who glimpses something of the delights of heaven; that I have felt myself powerful for good and full of love for God and men. Yes, I must hasten to write it, for these noble exaltations last but briefly in my soul, for tomorrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It seems unbearable to me to appear before men as someone other than one is before God. My harshest torment at this moment is the esteem in which noble souls hold me. It is said that at the Last Judgment the secrets of conscience will be revealed to the whole universe: I wish it were so for me this very day, and that the sight of my soul were open to all who come.
Socrates
Reading The Green Notebook · 1834 · March 23, 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.