"I turn to you whom I
hold for ever enclosed in my inmost heart." She promises and claims
faithfulness until death: "Among thousands my heart has chosen you, you
alone can satisfy my longing, and you will never find my love wanting. I
trust myself to you, all my hope is centred in you. I could say a great
deal more," she concludes, "but there is no need of it." And then
follow the charming German stanzas:
Thou to me and I to thee,
Knit for all eternity.
In my heart art thou imprisoned,
And I threw away the key.
Nevermore canst thou be free.
In the third letter she drops the formal Latin and addresses him in
intimate, simple German. But the man's replies are clumsy and strange,
and plainly evidence his uncertainty of himself: "You have put a human
head on a horse's neck, and the beautiful female form ends in an ugly
fish's tail." It looks as if a parting were inevitable.
But the most touching testimony from the Middle Ages is the famous love
story of Abelard and Heloise.
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