love letter [2]

my dearest friend,

should I draw you the picture of my heart,

it would be what I hope you still would love;

though it contained nothing new,

the early possession you obtained there,

and the absolute power you have ever maintained over it,

leaves not the smallest space unoccupied.

i look back to the early days of our acquaintance and Friendship,

as to the days of love and Innocence,

and with an indescribable pleasure

I have seen near a score of years roll over our heads,

with an affection heightened and improved by time --

nor have the dreary years of absence in the smallest degree

effaced from my mind the image of the dear untitled man

to whom I gave my heart.

[letter from Abigail Adams to her husband John Adams

while he was serving in the Revolutionary War]