That Ole Devil Called Love...

It’s February 14th and that Ole Devil called Love has reared it’s head again....on this day, St. Valentine's Day

No one really knows what the original St. Valentine (of whom there were at least two) had to do with love and romance. These days, commercialism has stepped in and it’s all about cards, hearts, flowers, roses and romantic gestures – often costing a lot of money and whilst all very touching and sentimental are really only tokens of the true feelings we have for the person we love.

So how do you express or demonstrate your innermost feelings for that someone special?
One way that always seems to impress, even throughout history is the love letter. There is just something so tender and personal about a love letter, the words that convey so many emotions and feelings – and often say what we can’t say face to face. History and Literature are full of wonderful examples of great love letters. Letters that really touch the heart and are worth more than 10 bunches of red roses, heart shaped cup-cakes or cute cuddly teddy bears.

So what makes a great love letter? Well, it's something that men have contemplated for many years, how do you write that perfect letter?

This week, I’m dedicating my blog to Love Letters of Great Men, both historical and fictional, looking at some of the most romantic and touching letters ever written.

Today’s example is from the fictional writing of Jane Austen in her novel Persuasion and Captain Wentworth’s letter to Miss Anne Elliot. If you have read the book, you will know that Anne and Capt. Fredrick Wentworth had enjoyed a romance years ago but it had been called off by Anne because of the disapproval of her family and –partly by the persuasion of her family friend, Lady Russell. Years later they are reunited and Anne, now 27 and still unmarried finds her former feelings returning. However, Capt. Wentworth appears not to have forgiven her for rejecting him – until she reads his letter and realises his true feelings for her...

"To Miss Elliot,
I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath. For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this? Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write. I am every instant hearing something which overpowers me. You sink your voice, but I can distinguish the tones of that voice when they would be lost on others. Too good, too excellent creature! You do us justice, indeed. You do believe that there is true attachment and constancy among men. Believe it to be most fervent, most undeviating, in
F. W.
"I must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither, or follow your party, as soon as possible. A word, a look, will be enough to decide whether I enter your father's house this evening or never."

Happy Valentine's Day!