 Romance/Love: March 15, 2006 Issue [#881] |
  Romance/Love
This week: Edited by: Lexi  
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I'm not alone in the night
When I can have all the love you write~ "Love Letters" by Elton John
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The methods of communication were limited in the past, so letters were the easiest way to relate messages, thoughts, and feelings. We still use letters today, possibly because we feel that we can express ourselves more freely with words when done on paper or through email. Whatever the case may be, it still feels wonderful to receive a handwritten letter. It is a personal keepsake that we can cherish and treasure.
In this issue we are going to take a look at some great romances which began with sending love letters.
The Truman Show
At the mere age of 6, Harry Truman met Bess Wallace in Sunday School. Though they attended school together until they graduated high school, they didn't become more than acquaintances. For over a year Harry and Bess went their separate ways. Harry decided to move and it happened to be only 20 miles away from Bess.
He began to court her through letters, and after a year he asked for her hand in marriage, but she initially turned him down. It was difficult for him to win her love. She was from a wealthy family and was expected to marry someone who had better prospects and a planned future. Though he entered into a series of business ventures, they ended in disappointment.
Harry joined a Missouri National Guard in World War I and trained for combat. He gained respect and acknowledgment for his leadership skills and courage under fire when he took charge over a unit known for rowdy behavior and refusal to take orders. Truman kept Bess close to his heart by carrying her picture in his breast pocket and writing to her daily. His spirits were uplifted by her promise to marry him when he returned.
Over 1300 letters that Harry wrote to Bess survive in the Truman Library collections. Unfortunately, most of the letters she wrote to him have been lost. Throughout their courtship and marriage, writing letters remained a constant form of communication. Below are a few excerpts from different letters Harry wrote to Bess.
November 4, 1913
It doesn't seem real that you should care for me. I have always hoped you would but some way feared very much you wouldn't. You know, I've always thought that the best man in the world is hardly good enough for any woman. But when it comes to the best girl in all the universe caring for an ordinary gink like me--well, you'll have to let me get used to it. I've always said I'd have you or no one and that's what I mean to do. I'm all puffed up and hilarious and happy and anything else that happens to a fellow when he finds his lady love thinks more of him than the rest of the beasts.
November 19, 1913
I know your last letter word for word and then I read it some forty times a day. I could die happy doing something for you. Since I can't rescue you from any monster or carry you from a burning building or save you from a sinking ship--simply because I'd be afraid of the monster, couldn't carry you, and can't swim--I'll have to go to work and make money enough to pay my debts and then get you to take me for what I am: just a common everyday man whose instincts are to be ornery, who's anxious to be right. You'll not have any trouble getting along with me for I'm awful good-natured, and I'm sure we'd live happy ever after sure enough.
March 1918
When you wear [this] think of me out on the Atlantic thinking of you and seeing your face in the moonlit waves of Old Neptune, and wishing wishing oh so badly that I could only see you.
July 14, 1917
I'm dead crazy to ask you to marry me before I leave, but I'm not going to because I don't think it would be right for me to ask you to tie yourself to a prospective cripple--or a sentiment.
January 2, 1934
I'm lonesome and thinking of you and writing you instead of going to a show. I got disgusted last night because I didn't have your hand to hold (that's all I go to shows for anyway) and left, so I didn't try any tonight.
On their 16th Wedding Anniversary
This is the day sixteen years ago that I made a plunge and took a chance for which I have been a better man. My only regret is that it was not done ten years sooner. I've never had but one golden-haired, blue-eyed sweetheart and she's still the same blue-eyed, but now maybe silver-haired, sweetheart and just as perfect and as beautiful as I dreamed of when I was ten and twelve and sixteen.
February 10, 1937
I never had but one [love] from the time I was six and a half to date, and maybe that's more foolishness according to modem standards, but I'm crazy enough to stay with it through all eternity.
June 28, 1944
Guess I'm just a damned, sentimental old fool. I've always had you on a pedestal and despite the fact that you try to climb down sometimes, and I don't blame you for trying, I'm not going to let you. From Sunday school days, to the Senate, to World War II you are just the same to me--the nicest, prettiest girl in the world.
Brownings
Renowned poet Elizabeth Barrett spent the majority of her life locked in her room suffering from an unknown disease until a lesser-known poet and playwright, Robert Browning, fell in love with her words. Here is an excerpt from the letter that began their relationship:
January 10, 1845
I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett,---and this is no off-hand complimentary letter that I shall write,---whatever else, no prompt matter-of-course recognition of your genius, and there a graceful and natural end of the thing. I do, as I say, love these books with all my heart---and I love you too.
He spent much of his time professing his love for her in such letters, which eventually helped her come out of her sickness and seclusion. Elizabeth and Robert secretly wed and spent fifteen years happily in marriage. Both led productive lives in writing during the years they spent together.
Elizabeth is best known for a line from her Sonnet XLIII. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways has become one of the most famous lines recorded in the history of poems. Here is another of her sonnets, this one referring to her letters:
XXVIII
My letters! all dead paper, mute and white!
And yet they seem alive and quivering
Against my tremulous hands which loose the string
And let them drop down on my knee to-night,
This said,--he wished to have me in his sight
Once, as a friend: this fixed a day in spring
To come and touch my hand . . . a simple thing,
Yet I wept for it!--this, . . . the paper's light. . .
Said, Dear, I love thee; and I sank and quailed
As if God's future thundered on my past.
This said, I am thine--and so its ink has paled
With lying at my heart that beat too fast.
And this . . . O Love, thy words have ill availed
If, what this said, I dared repeat at last!
~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning
On June 29, 1861, Elizabeth died in the arms of her husband.
 Romantic Challenge: Write a fictional or non-fictional love letter. Email me the link or submit it to the romance newsletter. My top favorite 5 will be awarded gift points as well as a featured spot in my next issue.
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 Kenzie  : You've made some excellent points about dialogue, however, one does have to take into account the entirety of a character. Take me, for instance. I do speak "Shakespearean" sometimes. At other times, I'm playful and that is reflected in my speaking. To say that showing a character who speaks formally is always wrong doesn't do justice to the fact that at least some characters have quite a variety in their speech.
 Lexi : Hey there, Kenzie! I didn't mean that having your characters speak like that is always wrong. Certainly there are times when you use playful language with your better half, but my hope was to point out that your characters can speak in simple terms and have a connection. It's not everyday that people have perfect romantic things to say, so it can seem unnatural to have characters speak in dialogue where they never falter their words.
Starr Phenix  : Thank you for featuring one of my stories, Lexi! What a wonderful surprise! I enjoyed your article, as well. Dialogue is one of my favorite things to write. I think the tone of dialogue is also dependent on the time period in which the story is set. Historical pieces allow you to be a little more poetic with dialogue than contemporary pieces, but you still have to be careful not to go over the top, and to have the characters speak in an accessible manner for your audience.
scribbler  : In my opinion people believe that in order to create romance they need to turn on the sappy factor. Thank you for showing that is false.
concrete_angel: Hi, Lexi! This was a really cool newsletter that talked about things that relate directly to writing, and how to improve. It was short, but I really liked the way you showed how to insert mood into dialogue.
essence of thought : Hello Lexi, What you say is real. Our daily life can be a good subject for romance, and simple language produces a direct effect in us, and a way to believe a romantic scene.
stephanie : I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but how would someone like me start up a newletter of my own?
Lexi : Unfortunately, only Moderators or higher positions are able to obtain the editor postions. However, you may wish to email an editor of which newsletter you are most interested in to see if you could contribute as a guest writer for an issue
Incurable Romantic : Lexi, your letter this time was great advice, and your comparison to Shakespearean dialogue was perfect. Back when a dollar was WORTH a dollar, my grandparents referred to those fancy, flowery words as "50-cent words" (i.e. expensive words most people can't "afford" to use regularly. At least not if they wanted ordinary people to understand them ). Unless our characters are millionaires (tongue in cheek), they shouldn't use those words either. You're very right. Simple wording in dialogue is far more natural, far more readable, and believable. Keep up the good work!
tinman : I particularly like this newsletter. I stuggle to write dialog. I always want to say too much in one sentence. I end up with talking heads.
Thank you for tuning in! All comments and questions are welcome!
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