Salem, Jany. 12th, 1841
Infinitely1 dearest, I went to the post office yesterday, after dinner, and inquiring for a letter, thy "visible silence" was put into my hands. Canst thou remotely imagine how glad I was? Hast thou also been gladdened by an uncouth2 scribbling3, which thy husband dispatched to thee on Monday? Oh, belovedest, no words can tell how thirsty my spirit is for thine! Surely I was very reprehensible4 to conceive the idea of spending a whole week and more away from thee. Why didst thou not scold me? and go with me wherever I went? Without thee, I have but the semblance5 of life. All the world hereabouts seems dull and drowsy—a vision, but without any spirituality—and I, likewise an unspiritual shadow, struggle vainly to catch hold of something real. Thou art my reality; and nothing else is real for me, unless thou give it that golden quality by thy touch.
Dearest, how camest thou by the headache? Thou shouldst have dreamed of thy husband's 232 breast, instead of that Arabian execution; and then thou wouldst have awaked with a very delicious thrill in thy heart, and no pain in thy head. And what wilt6 thou do to-day, persecuted7 little Dove, when thy abiding-place will be a Babel of talkers? Would that Miss Margaret Fuller might lose her tongue!—or my Dove her ears, and so be left wholly to her husband's golden silence! Dearest wife, I truly think that we could dispense9 with audible speech, and yet never feel the want of an interpreter between our spirits. We have soared into a region where we talk together in a language that can have no earthly echo. Articulate words are a harsh clamor and dissonance. When man arrives at his highest perfection, he will again be dumb!—for I suppose he was dumb at the Creation, and must perform an entire circle in order to return to that blessed state. Cousin Christopher, by thy account, seems to be of the same opinion, and is gradually learning to talk without the use of his voice.
Jany. 15th. Friday.—Oh, belovedest, what a weary week is this! Never did I experience the like. I went to bed last night, positively10 dismal11 and comfortless. Wilt thou know thy husband's face, when we meet again? Art thou much changed by the flight of years, my poor little wife? Is thy hair turned gray? Dost thou wear 233 a day-cap, as well as a night cap? How long since didst thou begin to use spectacles? Perhaps thou wilt not like to have me see thee, now that Time has done his worst to mar8 thy beauty; but fear thou not, sweetest Dove, for what I have loved and admired in thee is eternal. I shall look through the envious12 mist of age, and discern thy immortal13 grace as perfectly14 as in the light of Paradise. As for thy husband, he is grown quite bald and gray, and has very deep wrinkles across his brow, and crowsfeet and furrows15 all over his face. His eyesight fails him, so that he can only read the largest print in the broadest day-light; but it is a singular circumstance, that he makes out to decypher the pygmy characters of thy epistles, even by the faintest twilight16. The secret is, that they are characters of light to him, so that he could doubtless read them in midnight darkness. Art thou not glad, belovedest, that thou wast ordained17 to be a heavenly light to thy husband, amid the dreary18 twilight of age?
Grandfather is very anxious to know what has become of his chair, and the Famous Old People who sat in it. I tell him that it will probably arrive in the course of to-day; and that he need not be so impatient; for the public will be very well content to wait, even were it till Doomsday. He acquiesces19, but scolds, nevertheless. 234
I saw thy cousin Mary Tappan yesterday, and felt the better for it, because she is connected with thee in my mind. Dearest, I love thee very much!!!! Art thou not astonished? I wish to ask thee a question, but will reserve it for the extreme end of this letter.
I trust that thou art quite well, belovedest. That headache took a very unfair advantage, in attacking thee while thou wast away from thy husband. It is his province to guard thee both from head-ache and heart-ache; and thou performest the same blessed office for him, so far as regards the heart-ache—as to the head-ache, he knows it not, probably because his head is like a block of wood.
Now good-bye, dearest, sweetest, loveliest, holiest, truest, suitablest little wife. I worship thee. Thou art my type of womanly perfection. Thou keepest my heart pure, and elevatest me above the world. Thou enablest me to interpret the riddle20 of life, and fillest me with faith in the unseen and better land, because thou leadest me thither21 continually. God bless thee forever.
Dost thou love me?
Miss Sophia A. Peabody,
Care of Dr. N. Peabody,
Boston, Mass.
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1
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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2
uncouth
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| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
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3
scribbling
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| n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
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4
reprehensible
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| adj.该受责备的 | |
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5
semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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6
wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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7
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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8
mar
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| vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟 | |
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9
dispense
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| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
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10
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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11
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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12
envious
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| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
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13
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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14
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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15
furrows
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| n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 )；（脸上的）皱纹v.犁田，开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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16
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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17
ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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18
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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19
acquiesces
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| v.默认，默许( acquiesce的第三人称单数 ) | |
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20
riddle
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| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
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21
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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