The period of 1895 to 1897 saw Delius's musical style clearly undergoing some considerable change. It was also a time of some personal turbulence. Moving among the Parisian upper classes, and as part of the Belle Époque, he cut a dashing figure, was well dressed, charming and debonnaire. He was undoubtedly attractive to women and was something of a womaniser. Possessed of a strong sexual appetite, he was known to frequent Paris's notorious brothels, a habit in which he had possibly indulged since arriving in the French capital in 1888. The consequence of these pleasures was the infection of syphilis in 1895. In the knowledge that syphilis was incurable, and, until the advent of antibiotics, effective treatment was either extremely unpleasant or debilitating (the use of mercury was often worse than the disease itself), Delius must have been aware of the unpalatable prognosis, for sooner or later the tertiary phase of the disease would manifest itself. Yet, in the meantime, symptoms would disarmingly disappear while the disease lay dormant in the system and Delius, perhaps cynically, resolved to satisfy his carnal desires without care or hindrance.

Besides the ominous news about his health, the treatment which would have come at a price, Delius was short of money. There was even the possibility that he might have to sell his precious violin. Shunning the idea of obtaining a regular job, which might have brought some financial relief and stability, he preferred to rely on the allowance from his father. But news from Bradford was that Julius's business was in decline and that further income was by no means certain, nor from any other branches of the family such as his uncle or relatives in Germany. Similarly, the orange plantation Solana Grove brought no income, a situation Delius finally decided to resolve with a visit to Florida and Virginia in the first part of 1897. There were, however, sufficient funds for Delius to satisfy his continuing passion for Norway which he visited during the summer of 1896.

Frequenting Madame Charlotte's crémerie in Paris, he became better acquainted with Gauguin, the Swedish playwright Strindberg, whose enthusiasm for the writings of Nietzsche would prove highly influential on his imagination, and for a brief time in Norway, the novelist Knut Hamsun and the poet Vilhelm Krag.