Some emotions are subtle, like hints of fragrance in the air or sounds so soft that we wonder if we have merely imagined hearing them. La douleur exquise is not like this. It is as clear as a bell that will never be rung.
La douleur exquise is the French phrase for the emotional pain that arises from romantic love that will never be returned. There is suffering within this experience, but there’s also some kind of strange pleasure in it as well, something that the person feeling it doesn’t want to let go of. The agony is treasured and savored and placed like a trophy of worthy unworthiness…
…at least until the next obsession comes along.
