In this early composition, Berlioz already showed his gift for both lyricism and emotional expression. He always paid great attention to the meanings of the texts that he set (and in this case he had a youthful passion for the works of Florian, the author, particularly his Estelle et Nemorin), and so uses a structure that is largely but not completely strophic, for example, writing small eruptions in the bass part to represent storminess that the text alludes to in the endings of the first and third verses. He was rarely as creative with piano accompaniments as he was with other instruments or with orchestrations, and the heavy chords are rather banal, but still serve to create another element that contrasts with the heavily accented "jealousy theme" and the very faintly "exotic" lyricism of the main melody.

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