Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, so you need to start making romantic plans to show your spouse or significant other just how much you are still in love. You may have dinner reservations already made, or a wonderfully romantic meal planned to whip up at home. Maybe you’re taking your mate out on the town for a night of dancing or a trip to the theatre. Or, maybe you prefer a quiet evening at home watching classic romantic movies while cuddling on the couch and sharing a big bowl of popcorn or bottle of wine.
Whatever you have planned this Valentine’s Day, why not begin (or end) the evening with some handwritten words of love and devotion inspired by some of the most famous love letters ever written? Your mate is sure to swoon when he/she reads how you really feel about them, especially if you’ve not expressed yourself on paper in the past. If you do write a love letter to the object of your affection, be sure to choose some lovely Valentine’s Day stationery from PaperDirect. Easy online ordering makes choosing and receiving your favorite style a breeze!
Famous Love Letters
Here are some of the most famous love letters ever composed according to Time magazine online:
1. Napoleon Bonaparte to his wife, Josephine: Obviously, this brutal French leader had a soft spot for his wife even though he divorced her when he found she could not conceive. A few days after they were married, he left to command the French army but kept in touch through letters expressing how much he missed and longed for her. Here’s an excerpt from a letter Napoleon wrote in July 1796:
“Since I left you, I have been constantly depressed. My happiness is to be near you. Incessantly I live over in my memory your caresses, your tears, your affectionate solicitude. The charms of the incomparable Josephine kindle continually a burning and a glowing flame in my heart. When, free from all solicitude, all harassing care, shall I be able to pass all my time with you, having only to love you, and to think only of the happiness of so saying, and of proving it to you?“
2. Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn: While ole’ Henry originally courted Anne’s sister, Mary, he really only had eyes for Anne, who refused to be his mistress. As most of you know, Henry did not take rejection well and ordered her execution in 1536. But here’s what he wrote nine years earlier to Anne in 1527:
“I beg to know expressly your intention touching the love between us. Necessity compels me to obtain this answer, having been more than a year wounded by the dart of love, and not yet sure whether I shall fail or find a place in your affection.”
3. Winston Churchill to his wife, Clementine: Winston and his wife, “Clemmie,” wrote each other often when they were apart, and here’s an excerpt from a letter Winston wrote Clemmie in 1935 while she was traveling abroad:
“My darling Clemmie, in your letter from Madras you wrote some words very dear to me, about having enriched your life. I cannot tell you what pleasure this gave me, because I always feel so overwhelmingly in your debt, if there can be accounts in love…What it has been to me to live all these years in your heartand companionship no phrases can convey.”
4. Richard Burton to Elizabeth Taylor: Though probably most famous for their physical brawls, Richard Burton had a knack for writing sweet nothings to his beloved “Liz.” Here’s an except from a letter Burton wrote to Taylor during their first marriage in 1964:
“My blind eyes are desperately waiting for the sight of you. You don’t realize of course, E.B., how fascinatingly beautiful you have always been, and how strangely you have acquired an added and special and dangerous loveliness.”
5. President Ronald Reagan about his wife, Nancy: Former actor turned politician Ronald Reagan sure had a way with words. Check out this Valentine’s Day letter excerpt from 1977:
“Dear St. Valentine,
I’m writing to you about a beautiful young lady who has been in this household for 25 years now—come March 4.
I have a request to make of you but before doing so feel you should know more about her. For one thing she has 2 hearts—her own and mine. I’m not complaining. I gave her mine willingingly [sic], and like it right where it is. Her name is Nancy but for some time now I’ve called her Mommie and don’t believe I could change.
My request of you is—could you on this day whisper in her ear that someone loves her very much and more and more each day? Also tell her, this “Someone” would run down like a dollar clock without her so she must always stay where she is.”
6. Our last love letter writer may be fictional and it may be about being broken up, but he may just take the cake for the art of writing the love missive. If you’ve seen the movie, “The Notebook,” you may remember this from Noah to Allie:
“My Dearest Allie. I couldn’t sleep last night because I know that it’s over between us. I’m not bitter anymore, because I know that what we had was real. And if in some distant place in the future we see each other in our new lives, I’ll smile at you with joy and remember how we spent a summer beneath the trees, learning from each other and growing in love. The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that’s what you’ve given me. That’s what I’d hoped to give to you forever. I love you. I’ll be seeing you. Noah.”
Be sure to shop online at PaperDirect for everything you need to compose your Valentine’s Day love letter. Maybe yours will one day be famous, too!
