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Facing Pages · Branch 15 of 94
Preface · 1805 · p. 9
French
p. 9encore les passages du Génie du Christianisme et de la Défense qui se rapportent à René.
EXTRAIT
du génie du christianisme,
IIe. Partie, Liv. III.
Chap. ix, intitulé: Du Vague des Passions.
« Il reste à parler d’un état de l’âme, qui, ce nous semble, n’a pas encore été bien observé : c’est celui qui précède le développement des grandes passions, lorsque toutes les facultés, jeunes, actives, entières, mais renfermées, ne se sont exercées que sur elles-mêmes, sans but et sans objet. Plus les peuples avancent en civilisation, plus cet état du vague des passions augmente ; car il arrive alors une chose fort triste : le grand nombre d’exemples qu’on a sous les yeux, la multitude de livres qui traitent de l’homme et de ses sentiments, rendent habile sans expérience. On est détrompé sans avoir joui ; il reste encore des désirs, et l’on n’a plus d’illusions. L’imagination est riche, abondante et merveilleuse, l’existence pauvre, sèche et désenchantée. On habite, avec un cœur plein, un monde vide ; et sans avoir usé de rien, on est désabusé de tout.
René: Preface · 1805
Source p. 9also the passages of the Génie du Christianisme and of the Défense that concern René.
Extract
from the Génie du Christianisme,
Part II, Book III,
Chapter ix, entitled: On the Vague of the Passions.
’It remains to speak of a state of the soul which, it seems to us, has not yet been well observed: it is the one that precedes the development of the great passions, when all the faculties, young, active, whole, but shut in, have exercised themselves only on themselves, without aim and without object. The further peoples advance in civilization, the more this state of the vague of the passions increases; for then a very sad thing happens: the great number of examples one has before one’s eyes, the multitude of books that treat of man and his feelings, make one skilled without experience. One is disabused without having enjoyed; desires still remain, and one has no more illusions. The imagination is rich, abundant and marvellous, existence poor, dry and disenchanted. With a full heart one inhabits an empty world; and without having used anything, one is disillusioned with everything.
Socrates
Reading René · Preface · 1805 · Preface · 1805 · p. 9
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Chateaubriand’s tale of René and Amélie, with the Preface of 1805, two contemporary reviews, and the longer readings of 1802. This French–English edition preserves the 1826 printed pages, with a new English translation, author’s notes, variant readings, introduction and glossary.
Historical Text and Translation
François-René de Chateaubriand, Œuvres complètes, tome XVI (Paris: Ladvocat, 1826), pp. 1–16, 137–192 and 351–358, University of Toronto Library copy. Earlier witness: Génie du Christianisme, tome II (Paris: Migneret, 1802), pp. 158–216, Bibliothèque nationale de France copy.
About Diotimos Editions
This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.
Rights
The historical French source is in the public domain in the United States. New English translation and editorial matter © 2026 Diotimos Editions. Chateaubriand’s author notes and historical variants remain separately attributed.