Correspondence of the great and famous. Letters from great men: this is how to confess your love Interesting stories of a woman writing to a man in letters

Mozart, Napoleon, Jack London... How they loved their women: sometimes they behaved stupidly and recklessly, they were jealous and angry, but how they loved them! We have started a program. And we decided to set our participants up to work with the help of love letters from great people from the past. We share this inspiration with you. SMS is resting 😉

Dear little wife, I have several instructions for you. I beg you:

1. don’t fall into melancholy,
2. take care of your health and beware of spring winds,
3. don’t go for a walk alone - or even better, don’t go for a walk at all,
4. Be completely confident in my love. I write all my letters to you with your portrait in front of me.

6. And finally, I ask you to write me more detailed letters. I really want to know if brother-in-law Hofer came to visit us the day after I left? Does he often come as he promised me? Do the Langes come in sometimes? How is work on the portrait progressing? How do you live? All this, naturally, interests me extremely.

5. I beg you to behave in such a way that neither your nor my good name is damaged, and also watch how it looks from the outside. Don't be angry with me for asking this. You should love me even more because I care about our honor.

V.A. Mozart

I don’t love you anymore... On the contrary, I hate you. You are a vile, stupid, ridiculous woman. You don’t write to me at all, you don’t love your husband. You know how much joy your letters bring him, and you cannot write even six cursory lines.

However, what do you do all day, madam? What urgent matters take up your time and prevent you from writing to your very good lover?

What interferes with your tender and devoted love that you promised him? Who is this new seducer? new lover who claims all your time, not allowing you to deal with your spouse? Josephine, beware: one fine night I will break down your doors and appear before you.

In fact, my dear friend, I’m worried that I’m not receiving news from you, write me quickly four pages, and only about those pleasant things that will fill my heart with joy and tenderness.

I hope to soon embrace you in my arms and cover you with a million kisses, burning like the rays of the sun on the equator.

Bonaparte

I sincerely ask you, madam, a thousand times for forgiveness for these stupid anonymous verses that smack of childishness, but what can I do? I am as selfish as children and patients. When I suffer, I think about the people I love. I almost always think about you in poetry, and when the poems are ready, I cannot resist the desire to show them to the one who inspired them in me. And at the same time, I myself hide, like a person insanely afraid of the funny - isn’t there some kind of funny element in love? - especially for those who were not touched by it.

But I swear to you that this is the last time I explain myself; and if my ardent sympathy for you lasts as long as it lasted before I said even one word to you, you and I will live to old age.

No matter how absurd all this may seem to you, imagine that there is a heart at which you could not laugh without cruelty, and in which your image is imprinted forever.

Une fois, une seule, aimable et bonne femme
A mon bras votre bras poli.

I just received your letter. It calmed me down, now I know how you and the children are doing. It was as if I saw my dear family in front of me and heard you all talking to me together...

Last night I had a dream that I was in Newton, in a room where you and several other people were. And you decided that the time had come to announce that you were no longer my wife and wanted to marry another man. You reported this news with such absolute calm and composure - addressing not only me, but the entire company - that it paralyzed all my thoughts and feelings. I didn't know what to say at all.

Then some woman told those present that in this state of affairs, that is, if you refuse to be my wife, I automatically become her husband. Turning to me, she very coldly asked which of us would inform my mother about the wedding! I don’t know how we divided the children. I only know that my heart suddenly seemed to break loose, I began to scream, protest and threw a tantrum, in the midst of which I woke up. However, the feeling of unspoken resentment and gross insult hovered over me for a long time, and even now has not disappeared. You shouldn't be so careless when you come into my dreams.

Oh, Phoebe [moon goddess], I want you very much. You are the only person in the world that I need. Other people are more or less tolerable. But I probably always tolerated loneliness much more easily than someone else’s company, until I met you. Now I am me only when you are with me. You are the most beloved woman. How could you scare me so much in my sleep?

Your husband

Dear Anna: did I say that all people can be divided into species? If I did, then let me clarify – not all of them. You're slipping away, I can't classify you into any species, I can't figure you out. I can boast that out of 10 people I can predict the behavior of nine. Based on words and actions, I can guess the heart rate of nine out of ten people. But the tenth is a mystery to me, I am in despair because it is beyond me. You are this tenth.

Has it ever happened that two silent souls, so different, were so suited to each other? Of course, we often feel the same, but even when we feel something differently, we still understand each other, even though we do not have common language. We don't need words spoken out loud. We are too incomprehensible and mysterious for this. The Lord must be laughing, seeing our silent action.

The only glimmer of common sense in all of this is that we both have wild temperaments, huge enough that we could be understood. True, we often understand each other, but with elusive glimpses, vague sensations, as if ghosts, while we doubt, are haunting us with their perception of the truth. And yet I dare not believe that you are the tenth person whose behavior I cannot predict.

Even in bed my thoughts fly to you, my Immortal Love! I am filled with either joy or sadness in anticipation of what fate has in store for us. I can either live with you or not live at all. Yes, I decided to wander away from you until I am able to fly and throw myself into your arms, feel you completely as mine and enjoy this bliss. It should be. You will agree to this, because you do not doubt my loyalty to you; never will another take possession of my heart, never, never. Oh, God, why part with what you love so much!

The life I lead now in V. is hard. Your love makes me both the happiest and the most unhappy person. At my age, some monotony and stability of life are already required, but are they possible in our relationship? My angel, I just found out that the mail leaves every day, I have to finish so that you receive the letter as soon as possible. Be calm; be calm, love me always.

What a passionate desire to see you! You are my Life - my Everything - goodbye. Love me as before - never doubt the fidelity of your loved one

A.
Forever yours
Forever mine
We are ours forever.

Sofya Andreevna, it’s becoming unbearable for me. For three weeks I say every day: today I will say everything, and I leave with the same melancholy, repentance, fear and happiness in my soul. And every night, as now, I go over the past, suffer and say: why didn’t I say, and how, and what would I say. I am taking this letter with me to give it to you, if again I can’t, or if I don’t have the courage to tell you everything. Your family's false view of me is that it seems to me that I am in love with your sister Lisa. It's not fair.

Your story stuck in my head because, after reading it, I was convinced that I, Dublitsky, should not dream of happiness, that your excellent poetic demands of love... that I do not envy and will not envy the one you love. It seemed to me that I could rejoice in you as in children.

In Ivitsy I wrote: “Your presence reminds me too vividly of my old age, and it’s you.” But both then and now I lied to myself. Even then, I could have cut it all off and gone back to my monastery of solitary work and passion for work. Now I can’t do anything, but I feel like I’ve made a mistake in your family; that the simple, dear relationship with you, as a friend, an honest person, is lost. And I can’t leave and I don’t dare stay. You are an honest man, hand on heart, slowly, for God’s sake, slowly, tell me what should I do? What you laugh at, you work at. I would have died laughing if a month ago they told me that it was possible to suffer as I suffer, and happily suffer this time.

Tell me, as an honest man, do you want to be my wife? Only if with all your heart, you can boldly say: yes, otherwise it’s better to say: no, if you have a shadow of self-doubt. For God's sake, ask yourself well. I will be scared to hear: no, but I foresee it and will find the strength to bear it. But if I am never loved by my husband the way I love, it will be terrible!

Livi, darling,

six years have passed since I achieved my first success in life and conquered you, and thirty years have passed since Providence made the necessary preparations for this happy day by sending you into this world. Every day we live together adds to my confidence that we will never part with each other, that we will not regret for a second that we united our lives.

Every year I love you, my baby, more and more. Today you are dearer to me than on your last birthday, a year ago you were dearer than two years ago - I have no doubt that this wonderful movement will continue until the very end.

Let's look forward - to future anniversaries, to future old age and gray hair - without fear and despondency. Trusting each other and firmly knowing that the love that each of us carries in our hearts is enough to fill all the years allotted to us with happiness.

So, with great love for you and your children, I greet this day, which gives you the grace of an honorable lady and the dignity of three decades!

Always yours
S.L.K.

You only expect a few words from me. What will they be like? When the heart is full, it can overflow, but the real fullness will remain inside... No words will say... how dear you are to me - dear to my soul and heart. I look back and in every moment, in every phrase you say and every gesture, in every letter, in your silence, I see your perfection.

I don't want to change either my words or my appearance. My hope and goal is to preserve our love, not to betray it. I rely on God, who gave it to me and will undoubtedly help me save it. That's enough, my dear Ba! You gave me the highest, most complete proof of love that only one person can give to another. I am grateful - and proud that you are the prize of my life.

Dear Fanny,

Are you sometimes afraid that I don’t love you as much as you want? Dear girl, I have loved you forever and unconditionally. The more I get to know you, the more I love you. All my actions - even my jealousy - are a manifestation of Love; in her fiery flame I can die for you.

I brought you a lot of suffering. But it’s all because of Love! What can I do? You are always new. Your last kisses were the sweetest, your last smile the brightest; the last gestures are the most graceful.

When you walked past my window last night, I was filled with such admiration, as if I was seeing you for the first time. You once complained to me that I only love your Beauty. Is there really nothing else to love about you but this? Do I not see a heart endowed with wings that have deprived me of freedom? No worries could turn your thoughts away from me for a moment.

Perhaps this is more to be regretted than to be celebrated, but that is not what I am talking about. Even if you did not love me, I could not overcome complete devotion to you: how much deeper should my feeling for you be if I know that I am loved by you. My Mind is disturbed and restless, and it lives in a body that is too small.

I have never felt that my Mind took full and complete pleasure from anything - from any person except you. When you are in the room, my thoughts do not scatter, all my feelings are focused. The concern for our Love, which I caught in your last note, is an endless pleasure for me. However, you must no longer suffer from such suspicions; I trust you unconditionally, and you have no reason to be offended by me. Brown is gone, but Mrs. Wiley is here; when she leaves too, I will be especially vigilant for your sake. Bow to your mother. G. Keats who loves you.

My dear Josephine,

I'm afraid you got wet last night because as soon as the door of my house closed behind you, it started to rain. I take this opportunity to return your hat and express the hope that everything is fine with you this morning and that you have not caught a cold.

I tried to talk to your Hat. He asked her how many tender glances directed below her brim had she seen; how many tender words she heard next to her; how many times she was thrown into the air in moments of delight and triumph. And did she ever (and if so, when) tremble from the feelings that overwhelmed her mistress? But she proved she could keep a secret and didn't answer any of my questions. All I could do was try to catch her off guard by saying different names one after another. For quite a long time she remained unperturbed, but suddenly, hearing one name, she definitely shuddered and her ribbons fluttered!

I wished her well. I hope that she will never cover her aching head, and the eyes that she protects from the sun's rays will never know tears, but only joy and love.

Dear Josephine, with best wishes,
Yours, Daniel Webster

My dear Emma,

all your letters, dear letters to me, are so entertaining and reveal your essence so fully that, after reading them, I experience either the greatest pleasure or the greatest pain. This is another one best thing being with you.

I only wish, my dearest Emma, that you always believe that Nelson is yours; Nelson's alpha and omega is Emma. I cannot change - my affection and love for you lies beyond the boundaries of this world! Nothing can break it, only you alone. But I don’t allow myself to think about this for a moment.

I feel that you are a true friend of my soul and dearer to me than life itself; I do the same for you. No one can compare to you.

I'm glad you had such a pleasant trip to Norfolk. I hope one day to catch you there and bind you with bonds of law stronger than the bonds of love and affection that unite us now...

I cannot leave without saying a few words to you. So, my darling, you expect a lot of good things from me. Your happiness, even your life depends, as you say, on my love for you!

Fear nothing, my dear Sophie; my love will last forever, you will live and be happy. I have never done anything wrong before and I do not intend to set foot on this road. I am all yours - you are everything to me. We will support each other in all the troubles that fate may send us. You will ease my suffering; I will help you with yours. I can always see you as you were in Lately! As for me, you must admit that I remain the same as you saw me on the first day of our acquaintance.

This is not only my merit, but for the sake of justice I must tell you about it. Every day I feel more alive. I am confident in your loyalty and appreciate your virtues more and more every day. I am confident in your constancy and appreciate it. No one's passion had greater grounds than mine. Dear Sophie, You are very beautiful, aren't you? Watch yourself - see how it suits you to be in love; and know that I love you very much. This is a constant expression of my feelings.

Good night my dear Sophie. I am as happy as only a man can be who knows that he is loved by the most beautiful of women.

Happy Birthday, Princess!

We are getting old and getting used to each other. We think alike. We read each other's thoughts. We know what the other wants without asking. Sometimes we irritate each other a little - and maybe sometimes we take each other for granted.

But sometimes, like today, I think about it and realize how lucky I am to share my life with greatest woman, which I have ever met. You still delight and inspire me.

You change me for the better. You are my desired one, the main meaning of my existence. I love you so much.

Happy Birthday, Princess.

How to write a letter of erotic content to your loved one in order to convey to him all your feelings of body and soul?
How to ignite his feelings and make them mutual?

Erotic mail

Darling, hello! I am writing to you because emotions overwhelm me and overwhelm me again. Please read everything from beginning to end. This is important to me because you will read a lot of “brilliance” that comes from my soul.

When I first saw you, I started going crazy. From your appearance... You are so desirable..... From the ends of your hair to your very toes! Yes, there are no people like you... No, because….

My desires

I want to touch you, gently, gently, stroking every centimeter of your body. Touch with fingers, hands, tongue. Which one do you like best? I really love touching your baby. Do you remember which part of your body I call that and why? Not in order to humiliate your dignity, but in order to express my love and passion for you.

I remember how you undressed me, quietly, carefully, as if you were afraid of something. But I was afraid in vain. I'm yours! I'm completely yours! I'm so annoyed by the way you undress me... I'm ready to kiss your hands. Is it possible?.. First - arms, then - neck, chest, tummy, and further, further.... You love to kiss me in this order. I learned this from you. I also learned to search and find certain zones. Your whole body is covered with them! I'm proud of it, but surprised. I have never met anyone like you anywhere or ever. With what pleasure I enjoy you, dreaming of drinking you to the bottom, my angel...

Your divine warmth is my talisman

I love it when our bodies touch. The most beautiful moment... When you enter me, caressing me first, without ceasing…. You can do it! You can caress so sweetly that I could never say “no” to you. I am ready to give myself to you at any time (night and day). I remember how you ignite when I tell you “take me, my love...”. You are burning, and I love to tell you all this over and over again... Talk and repeat... Almost any second! I love it when you get turned on. I love feeling your baby swell…. I love picking it up and playing with it with my manicured nails. I know how to do this without hurting you. You should have seen your eyes in these moments! In their brilliance there is a thrill of peace. I can read in your eyes that you want more and more, that you want these games to never end. And I’m ready to continue them until infinity!

It's nice to see that you're happy

I get excited when I see that you enjoy being with me. It seems that at such a moment you are capable of anything for me. But I don't like to use you. All I need is your body. The whole body is yours! I can’t live without him anymore! You will say that I am the most vulgar vulgarity in the Universe, but I will not pay any attention to it. I will undress you again, abruptly throwing every piece of clothing far outside the room. As long as you do the same with my clothes…. I will kiss you tirelessly. Kissing you is something magical. I'm sorry that sometimes I bite and you feel pain. I don't do this on purpose, honestly. My love just overwhelms me, I stop controlling myself completely. Why am I explaining when you understand everything yourself?.. I’m sure that you feel the same. But you don’t say it, but give it away with hugs….

In my memories

I remember our first time. It had everything. First - the moon, champagne, stars, music, night. Then - confessions, the silkiness of the sheets, the fiery passions... Your moans, which burst out as if to freedom from the depths of your soul, suddenly... You yourself were scared then and didn’t expect it. I even felt ashamed, although I didn’t need to. You heard my moans too. They have always (were and are) real, and not some kind of arrogant, not artificial.

You love my moans so much! You compare them to the music of passion. You do everything to make the moans flow like a river. You turn me on...Oh, how you do it! I remember how you whispered my name. And I whispered yours in response, as if the most dear words in the world. Then she whispered something like “more…. more…. more….". Yes, I don’t even remember if these were the words. The main thing is how we felt when our bodies and hearts flew away from the feelings...

By the way, about flights of feelings...

Do you know what I want when we meet again? I want you to enter me and not try to get it after sex. I want to feel and sense you inside me. It's a strange desire, isn't it? And we, women, all have some oddities...

I also want us not to waste (waste) every minute. I want it to be like that time in the hotel... Do you remember how we made love without stopping? We forgot about food, and about time, and about fatigue..... We lived in each other! We just drank, grapefruit juice during breaks, and ran to the shower. After the shower - intimate again... So - for several days on end. If you told your friends, they would definitely be jealous! By the way, you asked if the size of your baby suits me? He is better than I expected! And how much can he do... Amazing! The main thing is that he can do a lot without getting tired. Sexual giant! I hope you are not offended by my compliment? I never told it to anyone! Your baby is the most tender. Because when it was our first time, I didn’t feel any pain during the first intimacy. Oh, how confusing the phrases are! These are all emotions, emotions...

I hope no one reads my letter except you? I don’t think ours are vulgar telephone conversations who “met” with us when you were on business trips. We missed each other so much! I wonder if the operators were listening to us? We should have heard enough of this! It all started, of course, with questions and very banal ones... “What are you wearing now?”, “What panties are you wearing?”, “What color are your panties?” I liked it all so much... I just couldn’t sleep afterwards. I really wanted to feel you so much... I know that I won’t let you go anywhere else!

Can not live without you

I can’t live without your body... You are my desired handsome man... Please take care of yourself. And take care of your strength so that we can enjoy each other like this for a long, long time. I want you, I love you... Take me, dear! I'm already waiting for you... When you see me, you will understand what a gift you got!

I kiss you in all your places!

Erotic letter- this is an intimate message, a mental touch of body and soul to the desired and beloved erotic image of your chosen one or chosen one.

What else can you write to your loved one? —

Love disability -

Love is what makes the globe go round. We hear so much about it on every corner, we think, write, dream of gaining it and are afraid of losing it forever. No one can say with certainty that it exists, and no one can give an exact answer to the eternal question: “What is love?” It is multifaceted, inexplicable, demanding and often painful, but it is impossible to argue - love in all its diversity gives meaning to the whole universe and every part of it.

It is impossible to count how many letters were written in the name of love. How many people have imbued paper with the tenderness of their hearts, poured out their feelings and sent them to their loved ones in a tightly sealed envelope so that not a drop would be spilled. In the rhythm of modern life, we have received a lot of opportunities for communication, and paper letters have been undeservedly forgotten, but along with touching examples of the epistolary genre, the touching and tenderness of correspondence that united lovers in moments of separation has disappeared.

I have collected several letters in which great people talk about the most beautiful feeling in the world.

Ludwig van Beethoven - "Immortal Beloved"

Hello! As soon as I woke up, my thoughts fly to you, my immortal love! I am filled with either joy or sadness at the thought of what fate has in store for us. I can only live with you, not otherwise; I decided to wander away from you until I was able to fly in to throw myself into your arms, feel you completely mine and enjoy this bliss.

Unfortunately, this is necessary; you will agree to this, especially since you do not doubt my loyalty to you; never will another take possession of my heart, never, never. Oh God, why leave what you love so much! The life I now lead in V. is difficult: your love makes me both the happiest and the most unhappy person at the same time; At my age, some monotony and stability of life are already required, but are they possible in our relationship?

My angel, I just found out that the mail leaves every day, I have to finish so that you receive the letter as soon as possible. Be calm; Only with a calm attitude towards our life can we achieve our goal - to live together; be calm, love me today - tomorrow - oh, what a passionate desire to see you - you, you, my life, my soul - goodbye. Oh, continue to love me - never doubt the devotion of your beloved's heart.

Always yours.
Always mine.
Always ours.

Napoleon Bonaparte - Josephine

My only Josephine - far from you the whole world seems to me a desert in which I am alone... You have taken possession of more than my entire soul. You are my only thought; when I am sick of the annoying creatures called people, when I am ready to curse life, then I put my hand on my heart: there your image rests; I look at him, love is absolute happiness for me... By what spell did you manage to subjugate all my abilities and reduce my entire spiritual life to you alone? Live for Josephine! This is the story of my life...

To die without enjoying your love is hellish torment, it is a sure image of complete destruction. My only friend, chosen by fate for us to complete the difficult journey of life together - on the day when your heart no longer belongs to me - the world will lose all its charm and temptation for me.

Leo Tolstoy – Sophia Burns

“Sofya Andreevna, it’s becoming unbearable for me. For three weeks I say every day: today I will say everything, and I leave with the same melancholy, repentance, fear and happiness in my soul. And every night, as now, I go over the past, suffer and say: why didn’t I say, and how, and what would I say. I am taking this letter with me to give it to you, if again I can’t, or if I don’t have the courage to tell you everything. Your family's false view of me is that it seems to me that I am in love with your sister Lisa. It's not fair. Your story stuck in my head because, after reading it, I was convinced that I, Dublitsky, should not dream of happiness, that your excellent poetic demands for love... That I do not envy and will not envy the one you love. It seemed to me that I could rejoice in you as in children...

Tell me, as an honest man, do you want to be my wife? Only if with all your heart, you can boldly say: yes, otherwise it’s better to say: no, if you have a shadow of self-doubt. For God's sake, ask yourself well. I will be scared to hear: no, but I foresee it and will find the strength to bear it. But if I’m never loved by my husband the way I love, it will be terrible!”

Denis Diderot – Sophie Volant

“I cannot leave without saying a few words to you. So, my darling, you expect a lot of good things from me. Your happiness, even your life depends, as you say, on my love for you!

Fear nothing, my dear Sophie; my love will last forever, you will live and be happy. I have never done anything wrong before and I do not intend to set foot on this road. I am all yours - you are everything to me. We will support each other in all the troubles that fate may send us. You will ease my suffering; I will help you with yours. I can always see you as you were recently! As for me, you must admit that I remain the same as you saw me on the first day of our acquaintance.

Dear Sophie, You are very beautiful, aren't you? Watch yourself - see how it suits you to be in love; and know that I love you very much. This is a constant expression of my feelings.

Good night my dear Sophie. I am as happy as only a man can be who knows that he is loved by the most beautiful of women.”

John Keats – Fanny Brown

“My dear girl!

Nothing in the world could give me greater pleasure than your letter, except you yourself. I am almost tired of being amazed at the fact that my feelings blissfully obey the will of that being who is now so far from me.

Even without thinking about you, I feel your presence, and a wave of tenderness covers me. All my thoughts, all my joyless days and sleepless nights did not cure me of my love for Beauty. On the contrary, this love has become so strong that I am in despair because you are not around, and am forced in sad patience to overcome an existence that cannot be called Life. Never before did I know that there was such a love as you gave me. I didn't believe in her; I was afraid to burn in its flame. But if you love me, the fire of love will not be able to burn us - it will be no more than we, sprinkled with the dew of Pleasure, can bear.

You mention “terrible people” and ask if they will prevent us from seeing each other again. My love, understand only one thing: you fill my heart so much that I am ready to turn into a Mentor, barely noticing the danger that threatens you. I want to see only joy in your eyes, only love on your lips, only happiness in your gait...

Always yours, my beloved! John Keats"

Alexander Pushkin - Natalia Goncharova

Moscow, March 1830. (Draft, in French.)

“Today is the anniversary of the day I first saw you; this day in my life. The more I think, the more convinced I am that my existence cannot be separated from yours: I was created to love you and follow you; all my other concerns are nothing but delusion and madness. Far from you, I am haunted by regrets about the happiness that I did not have time to enjoy. Sooner or later, however, I will have to give up everything and fall at your feet. The thought of the day when I will be able to have a piece of land in... alone smiles at me and revives me in the midst of heavy melancholy. There I will be able to wander around your house, meet you, follow you ... "

Lord Byron to Princess Guiccioli

Dear Teresa! I read this book in your garden. My love, you were not there, otherwise I could not read it. This is your favorite book, and the author is one of my best friends. You won't understand these English words, and others won't understand... That's why I didn't scrawl them in Italian. But you will recognize the handwriting of someone who loves you passionately, and you will understand that when he saw the book that belonged to you, he could only think about love.

In this word, which sounds equally beautiful in all languages, but best in yours - amor mio - lies my entire existence, present and future. I feel that I exist; and I feel that I will exist - for what purpose, that’s up to you to decide. My destiny belongs to you, you are a woman of seventeen years old and only two years since you left the monastery. With all my heart I wish you would stay there or that I would never know you married woman. But it's too late. I love you, you love me, at least that’s what you say, and your actions say the same thing, which under any circumstances is a great consolation for me.

I not only love you, I can’t stop loving you. Think about me sometimes, when the Alps and the ocean lie between us - they will not separate us until you want it.

Vladimir Nabokov to his wife Vera

How can I explain to you, my happiness, my golden, amazing happiness, how much I am all yours - with all my memories, poems, impulses, internal whirlwinds?.. And I know: I don’t know how to tell you anything in words - and when on the phone - it turns out really bad.

Because I need to talk to you - it’s wonderful, as they say, for example, with people who have been gone for a long time... I just want to tell you that I somehow can’t imagine life without you - despite the fact that you think that I’m “fun” I won't see you for two days. And you know, it turns out that it was not Edison who invented the telephone, but some other American - a quiet little man - whose last name no one remembers. It serves him right.

Listen, my happiness, will you no longer say that I am torturing you? How I want to take you somewhere with me - you know, like those old robbers did: a wide hat, a black mask and a musket with a bell. I love you, I want you, I need you unbearably... Your eyes, your voice, your lips, your shoulders - so light, sunny...

I am writing all this while lying in bed... I love you. I’ll be waiting for you tomorrow at 11 o’clock in the evening - otherwise call me after 9 o’clock.

Ursula Doyle

Love letters of great people. Book two. Women

LLC Publishing House "Good Book", 2010

All rights reserved. No part of the electronic version of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet or corporate networks, for private or public use without the written permission of the copyright owner.

Dedicated to the memory of four great women:

A.D. and M.I.S., A.D. and N.D.

Preface

Before the publication of this book, another publication was published entitled “ Love letters of great people" Its appearance sparked a debate about whether people write love letters these days. The discussion participants came to the conclusion that modern means of communication have managed to supplant words written on paper, and the ability to men force yourself to write a letter (and also send it). But readers (mostly women) complained not so much that the place of love letters was usurped text messages With mobile phones and messages on e-mail, how much for the irrevocable passing of those times when men talked about their feelings, and not just grumbled while lying on the sofa. The interest in reading the romantic (and even not so romantic) outpourings of men who lived in other historical periods is probably not explained personal qualities these men, but because such outpourings are very rare in our time, no matter what form they take.

As noted in the preface to the publication, the men's letters differ markedly in style, mood and, alas, degree of sincerity: sometimes one gets the feeling that some great men wrote them with posterity in mind or in the belief that a love letter is just another way show off your talents. When compiling this volume, reading the letters produced a completely different impression. For great men, prominent historical figures, the choice of loved ones and wives was only one of many aspects of life; they owed their greatness to achievements in other areas - in science, travel, conquest, political games, creative aspirations. All these areas of activity have been discovered relatively recently by most women, so, sadly, the women mentioned in this book owe their fame either to those whom they married or to those whom they produced: only through connections with illustrious husbands or Letters from these women have been preserved by their offspring. Marriage was entirely determined future fate many of them. I cannot and, of course, will not argue that women are sincere more often than men, that women are less capable of pretense and posing. The point is that matters of the heart could irreversibly change the fate of a woman, although they did not at all affect the fate of a man. It is hard to imagine any great man writing in 1712, as Lady Mary Wortley Montagu did in a letter to her lover shortly before running away with him against her father's wishes: “What we do makes me tremble. Will you really love me forever? I fear and hope." For a woman, the consequences of a wrong decision, one wrong step could be truly catastrophic.

Of course, women are also mentioned here who despised conventions, did not obey their relatives and fought for the opportunity to independently manage own life. As a rule, these women were unusually smart, rich, and therefore independent. This in no way diminishes the significance of their achievements, it just needs to be borne in mind that the bar for women's path to success was set almost unattainably high. And, of course, there are women on our list who were actively encouraged by their wonderful spouses. For example, the husbands of Abigail Adams and Isabella Beaton supported them and wished them success in any endeavor.

There are sad stories here too. They tell not only about love that ended in tragedy, but also about the dangers and troubles that beset women on their life path: from lack of rights, lack of education and economic independence to the threat to life during difficult childbirth and the likelihood of children dying in infancy. Antibiotics and suffrage changed all that, at least in more economically developed countries (it's worth noting that, according to horrific UN statistics, of the 536,000 deaths of women in childbirth that occur each year, 99% occur in less economically developed countries). It’s unlikely that the feminist slogan “You’ve passed” is applicable here. a long way, baby,” but sometimes it’s helpful to remember how much progress women have made since Mary Wollstonecraft wrote her famous article in 1790. Protecting women's rights».

What strikes me in this list of love letters is the tenacity of the women despite seemingly insurmountable odds, their perseverance, courage, stoicism, wit, charm and generosity. The love spoken of in their letters takes many forms: it is indulgent, deceptive, ambiguous, ambitious, selfish, erotic, chaste and crazy. However, it is love and at the same time a legacy worth cherishing.

Ursula Doyle, London, 2009

I looked at all these stupid girls jumping out for the first person they thought they could live with. And, apparently, I was waiting for a person without whom I could not live.

Nora Doyle, 1917–2007

Lady Joan Pelham

...I swear, I have never been so happy as when I learned from your letter that the Lord does not leave you with His mercy and protects you from the enemy’s machinations.

Lady Pelham wrote this letter to her husband, Sir John, in 1399 from their Pevensey Castle in East Sussex. Sir John Pelham was away at the time, helping Henry Bolingbroke gather troops for an attempt to overthrow Richard II from the throne, which later turned out to be successful. Pevensey was besieged by Sir John's enemies, and Lady Pelham, not giving in to panic, asked her husband if he could soon return home.

Lady Joan Pelham to Sir John Pelham

What could it be nicer voice loved one? What could be more welcome than his words? Now, in order to hear the object of our adoration, we just need to dial the cherished numbers... But what about before? How did these lovers, who were scattered by fate over distances, communicate? Previously, there were letters, messages and notes that contained the most tender words and the most sincere confessions...

Napoleon Bonaparte to Josephine

“There wasn’t a day that I didn’t love you; There wasn’t a night that I didn’t squeeze you in my arms. I don’t drink a cup of tea so as not to curse my pride and ambitions, which force me to stay away from you, my soul. In the midst of service, standing at the head of an army or checking camps, I feel that my heart is occupied only by my beloved Josephine. She deprives me of reason, fills my thoughts.

If I move away from you at the speed of the Rhone, it only means that I may soon see you. If I get up in the middle of the night to sit down to work, it’s because this way I can bring the moment of returning to you closer, my love. In your letter dated 23 and 26 Vantose, you address me as “You”. "You" ? Damn it! How could you write something like that? How cold it is!..

Josephine! Josephine! Do you remember what I once told you: nature has rewarded me with a strong, unshakable soul. And she sculpted you from lace and air. Have you stopped loving me? Forgive me, love of my life, my soul is breaking.

My heart, which belongs to you, is full of fear and longing...

It hurts me that you don't call me by name. I'll be waiting for you to write it. Goodbye! Ah, if you stopped loving me, then you never loved me! And I will have something to regret!”

Denis Diderot - Sophie Volant

“I cannot leave without saying a few words to you. So, my darling, you expect a lot of good things from me. Your happiness, even your life depends, as you say, on my love for you!

Fear nothing, my dear Sophie; my love will last forever, you will live and be happy. I have never done anything wrong before and I do not intend to set foot on this road. I am all yours - you are everything to me. We will support each other in all the troubles that fate may send us. You will ease my suffering; I will help you with yours. I can always see you as you were recently! As for me, you must admit that I remain the same as you saw me on the first day of our acquaintance.

Dear Sophie, You are very beautiful, aren't you? Watch yourself - see how it suits you to be in love; and know that I love you very much. This is a constant expression of my feelings.

Good night my dear Sophie. I am as happy as only a man can be who knows that he is loved by the most beautiful of women.”

John Keats - Fanny Brown

“My dear girl!

Always yours, my beloved! John Keats"

Alexander Pushkin — Natalya Goncharova

Moscow, in March 1830 (Chernovoe, in French.)

Far from you, I am haunted by regrets about the happiness that I did not have time to enjoy. Sooner or later, however, I will have to give up everything and fall at your feet. The thought of the day when I will be able to have a piece of land in... alone smiles at me and revives me in the midst of heavy melancholy. There I will be able to wander around your house, meet you, follow you..."

Honore de Balzac to Evelina Ganskaya

“How I would like to spend the day at your feet; laying his head on your lap, dreaming about the beautiful, sharing his thoughts with you in bliss and rapture, and sometimes not speaking at all, but pressing the hem of your dress to his lips!..

Oh, my love, Eve, the joy of my days, my light in the night, my hope, admiration, my beloved, precious, when will I see you? Or is this an illusion? Have I seen you? Oh Gods! How I love your accent, barely perceptible, your kind lips, so sensual - let me tell this to you, my angel of love.

I work day and night to come and stay with you for two weeks in December. On the way, I will see the Jura Mountains covered with snow, and I will think about the snowy whiteness of my beloved’s shoulders. Oh! Inhaling the aroma of hair, holding your hand, squeezing you in my arms - that’s where I get my inspiration from! My friends are amazed at the indestructibility of my willpower. Oh! They do not know my beloved, the one whose pure image nullifies all the grief from their bilious attacks. One kiss, my angel, one slow kiss, and good night!

Alfred de Musset - George Sand

“My dear Georges, I need to tell you something stupid and funny. I’m writing to you like a fool, I don’t know why, instead of telling you all this after returning from a walk. In the evening I will fall into despair because of this. You will laugh in my face and consider me a phrase-monger. You'll show me the door and think I'm lying.

I'm in love with you. I fell in love with you from the first day I was with you. I thought that I would recover from this very simply, seeing you as a friend. There are many traits in your character that can heal me; I tried my best to convince myself of this. But the minutes that I spend with you cost me too much. It’s better to say this - I will suffer less if you show me the door now...

But I don’t want to make riddles or create the appearance of a causeless quarrel. Now, Georges, as usual, you will say: “Another annoying admirer!” If I am not exactly the first person you meet, then tell me, as you would have told me yesterday in a conversation about someone else, what should I do? .

But I beg you, if you are going to tell me that you doubt the truth of what I am writing to you, then it is better not to answer at all. I know what you think about me; In saying this, I don't hope for anything. I can only lose my friend and the only pleasant hours I spent during the last month. But I know that you are kind, that you loved, and I entrust myself to you, not as a beloved, but as a sincere and faithful comrade.

Georges, I am acting like a madman in depriving myself of the pleasure of seeing you during the short time that you have left to spend in Paris before leaving for Italy. We could have spent delightful nights there if I had been more determined. But the truth is that I am suffering and I lack determination.”

Leo Tolstoy - Sophia Burns

Your family's false view of me is that it seems to me that I am in love with your sister Lisa. It's not fair. Your story stuck in my head because, after reading it, I was convinced that I, Dublitsky, should not dream of happiness, that your excellent poetic demands of love... that I do not envy and will not envy what who you will love. It seemed to me that I could rejoice in you as in children...

Tell me, as an honest man, do you want to be my wife? Only if with all your heart, you can boldly say: yes, otherwise it’s better to say: no, if you have a shadow of self-doubt. For God's sake, ask yourself well. I will be scared to hear: no, but I foresee it and will find the strength to bear it. But if I’m never loved by my husband the way I love, it will be terrible!”

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Constanze

“Dear little wife, I have several instructions for you. I beg you:

1) don’t fall into melancholy,
2) take care of your health and beware of spring winds,
3) don’t go for a walk alone - or better yet, don’t go for a walk at all,
4) be completely confident in my love. I write all my letters to you with your portrait in front of me.

5) I beg you to behave in such a way that neither your nor my good name is damaged, and also take care of your appearance. Don't be angry with me for asking this. You should love me even more because I care about our honor.
6) and in the end I ask you to write me more detailed letters.

I really want to know if brother-in-law Hofer came to visit us the day after I left? Does he often come as he promised me? Do the Langes come in sometimes? How is work on the portrait progressing? How do you live? All this, naturally, interests me extremely.”

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