love letter of great men

Beethoven - Love Letters of Great Men
Good morning, on July 7

Though still in bed,

my thoughts go out to you,

my Immortal Beloved,

now and then joyfully,

then sadly,

waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us

I can live only wholly with you or not at all

Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you,

and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits

Yes, unhappily it must be so

You will be the more contained since you know my fidelity to you.

No one else can ever possess my heart

never

never

Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves.

And yet my life in V is now a wretched life

Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men

At my age I need a steady, quiet life

can that be so in our connection?

My angel,

I have just been told that the mailcoach goes every day

therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the letter at once

Be calm, only by a calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together

Be calm

love me

today

yesterday

what tearful longings for you

you

you

my life

my all

farewell.

Oh continue to love me

never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.

ever thine
ever mine
ever ours

---

These letters were found in Beethoven's desk after he died. They were not addressed to anybody, so it is impossible to know who he was writing to. Historians feel they were written to a married woman who he loved dearly, and who was leaving the city at the time of these letters.