Diotimos Library · Literary Fiction Collection · Bilingual Edition
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English Page · Branch 65 of 94
René · p. 180
French
p. 180sa tête dépouillée. Jamais elle n’avoit paru si belle. L’œil de la pénitente étoit attaché sur la poussière du monde, et son âme étoit dans le ciel.
» Cependant Amélie n’avoit point encore prononcé ses vœux ; et pour mourir au monde, il falloit qu’elle passât à travers le tombeau. Ma sœur se couche sur le marbre ; on étend sur elle un drap mortuaire ; quatre flambeaux en marquent les quatre coins. Le prêtre, l’étole au cou, le livre à la main, commence l’Office des morts ; de jeunes vierges le continuent. O joies de la religion, que vous êtes grandes, mais que vous êtes terribles ! On m’avoit contraint de me placer à genoux, près de ce lugubre appareil. Tout à coup un murmure confus sort de dessous le voile sépulcral ; je m’incline, et ces paroles épouvantables (que je fus seul à entendre) viennent frapper mon oreille : « Dieu de miséricorde, fais que je ne me relève jamais de cette couche funèbre, et comble de tes biens un frère qui n’a point partagé ma criminelle passion ! »
» A ces mots échappés du cercueil, l’affreuse vérité m’éclaire ; ma raison s’égare, je me laisse tomber sur le linceul de la mort, je presse ma
René
Source p. 180her shorn head. Never had she seemed so beautiful. The penitent’s eye was fixed upon the dust of the world, and her soul was in heaven.
“However, Amélie had not yet pronounced her vows; and to die to the world she had to pass through the tomb. My sister lies down upon the marble; a pall is spread over her; four torches mark its four corners. The priest, stole about his neck, book in hand, begins the Office of the Dead; young virgins continue it. O joys of religion, how great you are, but how terrible! I had been made to kneel beside this mournful apparatus. All at once a confused murmur rises from beneath the sepulchral veil; I bend down, and these dreadful words (which I alone heard) strike my ear: ‘God of mercy, grant that I may never rise again from this funeral couch, and heap your blessings upon a brother who has not shared my criminal passion!’
“At these words escaped from the coffin, the hideous truth breaks upon me; my reason wanders; I let myself fall upon the shroud of death, I press my
Socrates
Reading René · René · René · p. 180
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.