The joys of love are but a moment long,
The heartache of love lasts for life.
I have left everything for ungrateful Sylvia,
But she left me and took another lover.
The joys of love are but a moment long,
The heartache of love lasts for life.
"As long as the water flows gently
To the stream that borders the meadow,
I will love you", repeated Sylvia to me.
The water still flows, yet she has changed.
The joys of love are but a moment long,
The heartache of love lasts for life.

The joys of love are but a moment long,
The heartache of love lasts for life.
I have left everything for ungrateful Sylvia,
But she left me and took another lover.
The joys of love are but a moment long,
The heartache of love lasts for life.
"As long as the water flows gently
To the stream that borders the meadow,
I will love you", repeated Sylvia to me.
The water still flows, yet she has changed.
The joys of love are but a moment long,
The heartache of love lasts for life.

***

Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment
Chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie

J'ai tout quittè pour l'ingrate Sylvie,
Elle me quit et me prend un autre amant

Tant que cette eau coulera doucement
Vers ce ruisseau qui borde la prairie

Je t'aimerai, me répétait Sylvie;
Mais l'eau coule encor, elle a changé pourtant

“Plaisir d’Amour” is a classical French love song that goes back 200 years or more. The music was composed by Johann Scwartzendorf (1741-1816), also known as “Jean Martini”. The lyrics are from a poem of Jean de Florian (1755-1794), in his romance “Célestine”. The final orchestral version was the work of the distinguished French symphonist Hector Berlioz (1803-1869). “The Joys of Love” is the usual English title.