Love song · 1784 · Europe
Plaisir d'amour
A French love song written in 1784. Its tune was later used for Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love".
- Words
- Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian
- Music
- Jean-Paul-Égide Martini
- Culture
- French art song of the late 18th century
- Language
- French
- Place
- France
- Date
- 1784
- Type
- Love song
- The words
- Public domain (words by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian (he died in 1794); music by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini (1784; he died in 1816))
The story
"Plaisir d'amour" ("The Pleasure of Love") is a French love song written in 1784 by the composer Jean-Paul-Égide Martini (1741–1816). Its words come from a poem by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian (1755–1794), which appears in his novel Célestine.
Martini's song was a great success. In 1816 a young woman, Julie Charles, sang it to the poet Alphonse de Lamartine while he was taking a cure at Aix-les-Bains, and Lamartine recalled it thirty years later. Hector Berlioz arranged it for orchestra in 1859, and in the 1880s Louis van Waefelghem arranged the tune for viola d'amore or viola and piano.
In the 20th century it was recorded by singers of many kinds, among them Yvonne Printemps (1931), Paul Robeson (1940), Joan Baez (1961) and Mary Hopkin, in Welsh, in 1971. It was a theme of the films Love Affair (1939) and The Heiress (1949). Its melody was the basis of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love" (1961) and of the 20th-century Christian hymn "My God Loves Me". In his short story "Chagrin d'amour" (1908), Hermann Hesse invented a medieval origin for it, giving it to an obscure troubadour who sings it to a queen he loves without hope.
What it says
A song of lost love, tender and sorrowful.
The words
Plaisir d’amour ne dure qu’un moment,The pleasure of love lasts only a moment,
Chagrin d’amour dure toute la vie.the sorrow of love lasts all one's life.
J’ai tout quitté pour l’ingrate Sylvie,I gave up everything for ungrateful Sylvie;
Elle me quitte et prend un autre amant.she leaves me and takes another lover.
Plaisir d’amour ne dure qu’un moment,The pleasure of love lasts only a moment,
Chagrin d’amour dure toute la vie.the sorrow of love lasts all one's life.
Tant que cette eau coulera doucement"As long as this water flows gently
Vers ce ruisseau qui borde la prairie,toward the stream that borders the meadow,
Je t’aimerai, me répétait Sylvie…I will love you," Sylvie kept telling me…
L’eau coule encor, elle a changé pourtant !The water still flows, yet she has changed!
Plaisir d’amour ne dure qu’un moment,The pleasure of love lasts only a moment,
Chagrin d’amour dure toute la vie.the sorrow of love lasts all one's life.
Original: Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian (1784), as printed in La Chanson française du XVe au XXe siècle. Text from Wikisource; public domain.
The English is the Institute’s own translation, made from the original for this page.
Notes on the translation (2)
- The English follows the site owner's own translation, fitted to the lines as printed.
- The poem is a song in Florian's novella Célestine (1784).
Listen
On YouTube, from the channel The King's Singers - Topic. Pressing play loads YouTube’s player. Watch on YouTube
What it inspired
- Arrangement for orchestra, H134 (Hector Berlioz) 1859arrangement
- Arrangement for viola d'amore or viola and piano (Louis van Waefelghem)arrangement
- Chagrin d'amour (Hermann Hesse) 1908short story giving the song a fictional origin
- Plaisir d'amour (Rina Ketty) 1939recording with extended lyrics
- Love Affair (film) 1939theme of the film
- The Heiress (film) 1949main theme, sung by Montgomery Clift
- Ma France bien-aimée, in We're No Angels (film) 1955same melody
- Can't Help Falling in Love (Elvis Presley) 1961melody based on the song
- My God Loves Me (hymn)melody based on the song
- Pleserau Serch (Mary Hopkin) 1971Welsh version
What it drew on
- Poem in the novel Célestine (Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian)source of the words
People, places and events
Sources
- Wikipedia, "Plaisir d'amour", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaisir_d%27amour
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Plaisir d'amour. In Songs in History. https://the-epoch-institute.org/songs/plaisir-damour
- MLA
- “Plaisir d'amour.” Songs in History, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/songs/plaisir-damour. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Plaisir d'amour.” Songs in History. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/songs/plaisir-damour.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Plaisir d'amour’, Songs in History. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/songs/plaisir-damour (Accessed: ).