ut firm as
the vault of heaven itself?

JULY 7th.

Good morning!

Even before I rise, my thoughts throng to you, my immortal
beloved!--sometimes full of joy, and yet again sad, waiting to see
whether Fate will hear us. I must live either wholly with you, or not at
all. Indeed, I have resolved to wander far from you till the moment
arrives when I can fly into your arms, and feel that they are my home,
and send forth my soul in unison with yours into the realm of spirits.
Alas! it must be so! You will take courage, for you know my fidelity.
Never can another possess my heart--never, never! Oh, heavens! Why must
I fly from her I so fondly love? and yet my existence in W--was as
miserable as here. Your love made me the most happy and yet the most
unhappy of men. At my age, life requires a uniform equality; can this be
found in our mutual relations? My angel! I have this moment heard that
the post goes every day, so I must conclude that you may get this letter
the sooner. Be calm! for we can only attain our object of living
together by the calm contemplation of our existence. Continue to love
me. Yesterday, to-day, what longings for you, what tears for you! for
you! for you! my life! my all! Farewell! Oh, love me for ever, and never
doubt the faithful heart of your lover, L.

Ever thine.

Ever mine.

Ever each other's.

TO MY BROTHERS CARL AND JOHANN BEETHOVEN

HEILIGENSTADT, Oct. 6th, 1802.

Oh! Ye who think or declare me to be hostile, morose, and
misanthropical, how unjust you are, and how little you know the secret
cause of what appears thus to you! My heart and mind were ever from
childhood prone to the most tender feelings of affection, and I was
always disposed to accomplish something great. But you must remember
that six years ago I was attacked by an incurable malady, aggravated by
unskillful physicians, deluded from year to year, too, by the hope of
relief, and at length forced to the conviction of a _lasting affliction_
(the cure of which may go on for years, and perhaps after all prove
impracticable).

Born with a passionate and excitable temperament, keenly susceptible to
the pleasures of society, I was yet obliged early in life to isolate
myself, and to pass my existence in solitude. If I at any time resolved
to surmount all this, oh! how cruelly was I again repelled by the
experience, sadder than ever, of my defective hearing!--and yet I found
it impossible to say to others: Speak louder, sh