Some of the most passionate words ever written were never meant to be read by anyone but one person. Centuries later, we read them anyway, a little guiltily, and blush.
Here are a few love letters from history that still feel startlingly alive.
Héloïse and Abélard (12th century)
He was a famous philosopher in Paris. She was his brilliant young student. Their love affair ended in scandal and separation: both entered religious life. Years later, they began exchanging letters, and Héloïse's are among the most intense in literature, refusing to pretend she had stopped loving him. Their names are still linked; they're buried together at Père-Lachaise.
Napoleon to Joséphine (1796)
Newly married and leaving almost immediately to command the army in Italy, the young general Bonaparte wrote to Joséphine again and again, between battles. His letters are feverish, jealous, adoring. He begs her to write, complains when she doesn't, describes his longing in words that are almost embarrassing to read.
Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved" (1812)
After Beethoven's death in 1827, a letter was found among his papers, addressed to an unnamed woman he called his "Immortal Beloved". It was written over two days in July 1812, full of tenderness and despair. Who was she? Historians still debate it. The mystery has only made the letter more famous.
Juliette Drouet to Victor Hugo (1833–1883)
An actress, Juliette Drouet became Victor Hugo's companion for half a century. She wrote to him almost every day, sometimes several times a day. Thousands of her letters survive, an extraordinary record of a lifelong love, and of a daily habit of tenderness.
What these letters teach
They're not polished. They're urgent, repetitive, sometimes a little ridiculous. That's what makes them moving. Love letters don't need to be perfect. They need to be true, and sent.
Write one this week
To a partner, a friend, a child, someone you love quietly. It doesn't need to be grand. Tell them one specific thing you love about them, and one memory you share. Then post it.
Letters to fall for
The Letter & Magazine subscription sends you a letter and a postcard every month, with a meditation and a story about art inside, plus a seasonal issue of "(meditating) On Art". Not quite Napoleon. Much calmer, and every bit as heartfelt.
Remember to take as much time as you need, and meet me at the next one.
Love, Evi