René

Name: René
Author: François-René de Chateaubriand

With the Preface of 1805 and two reviews reprinted by the author

Explore the Lexicon

RenéRené · p. 150

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Facing Pages · Branch 35 of 94

René · p. 150

Book Mode

French

p. 150

derrière un palais, dans une cour retirée et déserte, j’aperçus une statue qui indiquoit du doigt un lieu fameux par un sacrifice. Je fus frappé du silence de ces lieux ; le vent seul gémissoit autour du marbre tragique. Des manœuvres étoient couchés avec indifférence au pied de la statue, ou tailloient des pierres en sifflant. Je leur demandai ce que signifioit ce monument : les uns purent à peine me le dire, les autres ignoroient la catastrophe qu’il retraçoit. Rien ne m’a plus donné la juste mesure des événements de la vie, et du peu que nous sommes. Que sont devenus ces personnages qui firent tant de bruit ? Le temps a fait un pas, et la face de la terre a été renouvelée.

» Je recherchai surtout dans mes voyages les artistes et ces hommes divins qui chantent les dieux sur la lyre, et la félicité des peuples qui honorent les lois, la religion et les tombeaux.

» Ces chantres sont de race divine, ils possèdent le seul talent incontestable dont le ciel ait fait présent à la terre. Leur vie est à la fois naïve et sublime ; ils célèbrent les dieux avec une bouche d’or, et sont les plus simples

René

Source p. 150

behind a palace, in a secluded and deserted courtyard, I noticed a statue that pointed with its finger to a place made famous by a sacrifice. I was struck by the silence of the place; the wind alone moaned around the tragic marble. Workmen were lying, indifferent, at the foot of the statue, or cutting stones and whistling. I asked them what the monument signified: some could scarcely tell me; the others knew nothing of the catastrophe it recalled. Nothing has given me a truer measure of the events of life, and of how little we are. What has become of those personages who made so much noise? Time has taken a step, and the face of the earth has been renewed.

“In my travels I sought out above all the artists, and those divine men who sing the gods upon the lyre, and the happiness of peoples who honour laws, religion and tombs.

“These singers are of divine race; they possess the one incontestable talent that heaven has made a present of to the earth. Their life is at once artless and sublime; they celebrate the gods with a golden mouth, and are the simplest

*.Source editor’s annotationChateaubriand’s note: ‘In London, behind Whitehall, the statue of Charles II.’

1.The sacrifice is the execution of Charles I, beheaded on 30 January 1649 on a scaffold before the Banqueting House in Whitehall. The statue that stood behind the Banqueting House from 1686 was of Charles I’s son James II, not of Charles II; it now stands outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.

a.Source editor’s annotation1802. Je fus frappé du silence qui régnoit en ces lieux, et que ne troubloient point les plaintes du vent, qui gémissoit autour du marbre tragique, ‘I was struck by the silence that reigned in the place, and that the complaints of the wind, moaning around the tragic marble, did not disturb.’

b.Source editor’s annotation1802. Seulement quelques manœuvres étoient assis avec indifférence, ‘Only a few workmen were sitting, indifferent…’.

c.Source editor’s annotation1802. ignoroient jusqu’à la grande catastrophe, ‘knew nothing even of the great catastrophe’.

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.