A Brief History of Love Letters

Bad soul! I am sure I had an idea of ​​it, I had not joked about it for all my money. But then you know, how can I suppose such a thing? I have certainly made But a common love-letter, and you know young people liked to laugh at them.

-Feeling and Sensibility

The love letter has been composed and cherished for centuries. Over the years, the form, media, and content of the letter have changed. However, its purpose remains the same - to communicate through the written word the true and raw emotion of human passion. The history of love letters begins early. The earliest manifestation of the love letter may be the Bible's Song of Solomon. Letter writing was celebrated by Cicero and Pliny, Dutch-of-the-Century Romans who wrote loving letters to their wives.

As a literary form, the history of love letters probably began in the early Renaissance. The age of chivalry produced a series of discreet correspondences that were based on the castigatory compliments and excessive self-deprecations of courtly love. In the early eighteenth century, love letters became much more personal and pure. Missives from this period displayed tenderness, charm, and even humor. As the eighteenth century progressed and romantic ideals were cast aside, love letters too were changing. Intellectuals contributed their ideas to art, which they considered not trivial, but rather essential to the search for self-knowledge and happiness.

The nineteenth century spawned the great private love letters of Beethoven to his "immortal beloved," as well as the literary romance of poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett. Computers, fax machines, and modern transportation have not made the art of the love letter obsolete. Instead, they have fueled its interest and impact. The history of love letters continues to write itself. Love letters can now be mailed, faxed, and even sent overnight to lovers separated by oceans and continents. Clearly, the love letter has evolved over the centuries, still to be cherished and meaningful in the present day.

Although letters play pivotal roles throughout Jane Austen's works, she rarely attempts to spell out the content of a love letter. An exception to this is the immortal letter from Captain Wentworth to Anne Elliot, in Persuasion, Austen's last work. Not only does it quickly turn the plot and bring a satisfactory resolution to the story, it remains today, a standard by which all other love letters may be measured. On PAR with the passionate proposal of Mr. Darcy, Captain Wentworth's heartfelt words stand out as some of the most memorable lines, not only in Austen's novels, but in all literature.

The private letters of many notable Regency figures have been published, several of which express the theme of love, longing, and desire for reunion.

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A few days ago I thought I loved you; But since I last saw you, I feel that I love you a thousand times more. All the time I have known you, I am a smitten with you every day; That shows how wrong La Bruyére's Maxim was that love comes all at once. Everything in nature has its own life and different stages of growth. I beg you, show me some of your faults: be less beautiful, less graceful, less kind, less good... my one and only Josephine, apart from you there is no joy; Away from you the world is a desert where I am alone and cannot open my heart. You have taken more than my soul; You are the one to my life. When I am tired of work, when I fear the outcome, when men irritate me, when I am ready to curse, I put my hand on my heart; Your portrait hangs there, I look at it, and love brings me perfect happiness... Oh, my adorable wife! I do not know what fate has in store for me, but if it keeps me from you longer, it will be unbearable! My courage is not enough for that. Come and join us; before we die, let us at least be able to say: "We had so many happy days!"

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Percy Bysshe Shelley aan Mary Godwin Shelley

Sunday, August 23, 1818

My dearest Mary,

We arrived here last night at twelve o'clock, and it is now before breakfast the next morning. I can of course tell you nothing of the future, and though I shall not close this letter till post-time, yet I do not know exactly when that is. But if you are still very impatient, look at the letter, and you will see another date, when I may have something to do ... well, but press the time. I am now going to the banker to send you money for the journey, which I shall address to you at Florence, post-office. Bid come at once to ESTE, where I shall wait in the utmost anxiety for your arrival ... do you know, dearest, how this letter is written? By scrap and patches and interrupted every minute. The gondola is now coming to take me to the banker. Este is a small place and the house found without difficulty. I shall count four days for this letter, one day for packing, four to get here - and the ninth or tenth day we shall meet. I am late for the post, but I will send an express to make up for it. Enclosed is an order for fifty pounds. If you know all I must do! Dearest love, be good, be happy, come to me. Trust in your own constant and affectionate p.b.s.

P.s. Kiss the Blue Eyed Darlings for me and let William not forget me. Clara cannot remember me.

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John Keats to Fanny Brawne

25 College Street, October 13, 1819

My dearest girl, this moment I have set myself to copy some verses from the stock exchange. I cannot go on with any measure of content. I must write you a line or two and see if that will help in rejecting you for ever so short a time. On my soul I can think of nothing else. Time is passed when I had the power to advise and warn you against the innumerable morning of my life. My love has made me selfish. I cannot exist without you. I am forgetful of everything, but I see you again - my life seems to stop there - I see no further. You have taken me in. I have at the present moment a sensation as if I were dissolving - I should be beautifully miserable without the hope of seeing you soon. I should be afraid to separate myself far from you. My dear fanny, will your heart never change? My love, will it? I have no limit to my love now...