King Henry VIII originally courted Anne Boleyn’s sister Mary, but it was Anne who caught the English royal’s wandering eye — though she refused to be his mistress. She wanted to be Queen. Unfortunately for Anne, the temperamental King had another change of heart and ordered her execution in 1536. Henry VIII wrote Anne this letter in 1527:國王亨利八世最初追求的是安妮·博林的姐姐瑪麗·博林，不過皇室看中的卻是安妮——雖然她拒絕做亨利八世的情婦。她想要做的是皇后，不過不幸的是，喜新厭舊的亨利八世之后卻又變了心，1536年時下令處決安妮。1527年，亨利八世給安妮寫下了這樣的情書：
“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。”“我乞求你，清楚明白地告訴我你的心意，是否愿意與我相愛。我必須要得到這個答案，愛神之箭射中了我，傷口已一年有余，能否在你的心中占有一席之地，我卻依然無從確定。”
Napoleon to His Wife Josephine拿破侖寫給妻子約瑟芬
The ruthless French leader had a sweet side for his wife Josephine. Although he divorced her when she could not have children, he continued to write to her. A few days after they were married, Napoleon left to command the French army near Italy. In the following months, he frequently wrote, expressing how much he missed her. He wrote the following on July 17, 1796:拿破侖這位法國革命領袖殘酷無情，然而對妻子約瑟芬卻有柔情的一面。雖然因為約瑟芬無法懷孕而和她離婚，但他依舊保持著對她的通信。在他們婚后沒幾天，拿破侖就離開家，前往離意大利不遠處的前線指揮部隊。在接下去的幾個月中，他頻繁地給妻子寫信，表達相思之情。1796年7月17日，他在信中寫道：
“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?”“自從與你分別，我時常郁郁寡歡。我的幸福就是能與你相依。我不斷在記憶里重溫你的愛撫、你的淚水、你深情的掛念。世上沒有人能同你相比，你的魅力總會在我心中燃起熊熊烈火。我何時才能擺脫所有掛慮、所有惱人的擔憂，和你共度生命中的每分每秒，向你證明，我只需要愛你，只需要想著向你訴說愛意時的幸福之感。”
Beethoven to His Immortal Beloved貝多芬寫給“永遠的愛人”
The identity of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “immortal beloved,” who received a plethora of letters from the composer in 1812, is still a mystery, but historians believe it was Antonie Brentano, a diplomat’s daughter. Beethoven dedicated his Diabelli Variations Op. 120 to her, and in one of his letters found after his death, he famously wrote:1812年，貝多芬“永遠的愛人”收到了來自這位作曲家雪花般的來信，不過收信人的身份卻依然無人知曉。不過，歷史學家認為收信人是安東妮·布倫塔諾。安東妮·布倫塔諾是一位外交家的女兒，貝多芬將他創作的《迪亞貝利變奏曲》獻給了她。貝多芬去世后人們找到了他生前的書信，在其中有一句著名的話：
“Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, Be calm–love me–today–yesterday–what tearful longings for you–you–you–my life–my all–farewell. Oh continue to love me–never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved. Ever thine. Ever mine. Ever ours。”“我的人躺在床上，但我的思緒卻飛向了你，我永遠的愛人。請保持冷靜-愛我-今天-昨天-我的眼中飽含淚水思念著你-你-你-我的生命-我的一切-永別了。噢，繼續愛我吧，不要誤會我這顆最赤誠地愛著你的心。我永遠屬于你。你永遠屬于我。我們永遠屬于彼此。”
Winston Churchill to His Wife Clementine溫斯頓·丘吉爾寫給妻子克萊芒蒂娜
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine were married for 56 years and wrote to each other whenever they were apart. Winston wrote this letter to Clementine on Jan. 23, 1935, while she was traveling abroad:英國首相溫斯頓·丘吉爾和妻子克萊芒蒂娜攜手走過了56個春秋，兩人只要是分別，都會給對方寫信。丘吉爾于1935年1月23日給正在國外旅游的克萊芒蒂娜寫道：
“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 heart and companionship no phrases can convey。”“我親愛的克萊米，你從馬德拉斯寄來的信中寫道讓你的人生更為豐富，這些話對我來說太珍貴了。我無法表達出你給我帶來了多少的快樂，因為我在想，如果愛也能夠計算，那么我欠你的實在太多……這些年來，你對我的愛始終沒有停歇，陪伴在我身邊，我實在難以用言語表達這些事對我的意義。”
Charles Darwin to Emma Wedgwood查爾斯·達爾文寫給妻子愛瑪·韋奇伍德
Charles Darwin, author of Origin of Species, wrote a pros and cons list for getting married, and eventually decided to propose to his first cousin Emma Wedgwood. The couple had a happy marriage, producing 10 children. Charles wrote this note to Emma just a few days before their wedding in 1839:《物種起源》的作者查爾斯·達爾文列出了一張婚姻利弊清單，最終他決定向表妹愛瑪·韋奇伍德求婚。他們兩人婚姻美滿，膝下有十個兒女。1839年兩人結婚的前幾天，達爾文在給愛瑪的信中寫道：
“How I do hope you shall be happy as I know I shall be. My own dearest Emma, I earnestly pray, you may never regret the great and I will add very good, deed you are to perform on the Tuesday: my own dear future wife, God bless you…”“我多希望你也能和我一樣幸福——我知道，我的未來將會有多幸福。我最愛的愛瑪，你只屬于我。我誠摯地祈禱，希望你永遠不會為我們星期二要做的偉大舉動而后悔。我會竭盡所能使之完美：我親愛的未來的妻子，愿上帝保佑你……”
Frida Kahlo to Diego Rivera 弗里達·卡羅寫給迭戈·里維拉
Although artist Diego Rivera was 20 years older than painter Frida Kahlo, she called him her “big child。” Kahlo loved Rivera, even though he was reportedly unfaithful. She once said, “I suffered two grave accidents in my life. One in which a streetcar knocked me down … The other accident is Diego。” The following is from a letter that Kahlo sent to Rivera in 1940:墨西哥著名藝術家迭戈·里維拉盡管比畫家弗里達·卡羅年長二十歲，弗里達·卡羅仍然將他喚作自己的“大孩子”。雖然有傳聞稱迭戈·里維拉不忠，不過弗里達·卡羅依舊愛著他。她曾說：“我的人生有兩大沉痛的意外：一是被一輛有軌電車撞倒……二就是遇見了迭戈。” 下面的這段話出自1940年卡羅寫給里維拉的一封信：
“Diego my love- Remember that once you finish the fresco we will be together forever once and for all, without arguments or anything, only to love one another. Behave yourself and do everything that Emmy Lou tells you. I adore you more than ever. Your girl, Frida (Write me)。”“迭戈，我的愛人——請你記住，當你完成那副壁畫之后，我們就將永遠在一起，不會離開彼此了。我們不會爭執，只會全心全意地愛著彼此。聽話點，按照艾米·盧說的去做。我比從前任何時候都愛你。你的愛人，弗里達(回信給我)”
Richard Burton to Elizabeth Taylor理查德·波頓寫給伊麗莎白·泰勒
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were Hollywood’s It couple for over a decade. They fell in love on the set of Cleopatra in 1963, and married and divorced twice. Burton wrote this letter to Taylor during the early part of their first marriage in 1964:理查德·波頓和伊麗莎白·泰勒這對夫婦曾叱咤好萊塢十余載。1963年在拍攝《埃及艷后》時，他們兩人墜入愛河，之后經歷過兩次離離合合。1964年，波頓在他們第一次婚姻之初給泰勒寫道：
“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。”“我目不見物，只愿再看到你。當然，你無法感受得到，伊麗莎白，你是多么地有魅力，你的可愛是多么地危險。”
Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan 羅納德·里根寫給妻子南希
President Ronald Reagan wrote several love notes to his wife and eventual First Lady, starting when the couple first met. Nancy compiled some of his letters in her book I Love You, Ronnie. He gave her this note on Valentine’s Day in 1977:自相識以來，美國總統羅納德·里根給她的妻子、后來的第一夫人寫過多封情書。南希后來將其中的一部分收入了她的《我愛你·羅尼》一書。1977年的情人節，里根將這封情書交給了南希：
“Dear St. Valentine,“親愛的圣瓦倫�。�
I’m writing to you about a beautiful young lady who has been in this household for 25 years now—come March 4.我寫的這封信同一位美麗的女士有關。到今年3月4日，她就在這個家庭生活了足足25年了。
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, 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。我想請求您做一件事，但是在此之前，我希望您能對她有更多的了解。首先，她有兩顆心：一顆是她自己的心，一顆是我的心。我對此毫無怨言，因為我心甘情愿地將自己的心交予了她，也希望這顆心一直在那。她的名字叫南希，不過一段時間以來我一直叫她“媽媽”，已經無法改口了。
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。”我對您的請求是：在今天這個特別的日子里，能否悄悄地靠在她耳邊對她說，有一個人深愛著她，他的愛與日俱增？同時也請告訴她，如果沒有她，這個人會像電子表一樣停止運轉，所以請她一直留在這個地方。”
Jerry Orbach to His Wife Elaine杰里·奧爾巴赫寫給妻子伊萊恩
The Law and Order star used to leave love poems for his wife every morning next to her coffee. Their 25-year marriage is chronicled in the book Remember How I Love You: Love Letters from an Extraordinary Marriage. Jerry wrote this letter to Elaine on one Valentine’s Day:出演《法律與秩序》的演員杰里·奧爾巴赫每天早上都會在他妻子的咖啡旁放上一封情書。他們長達25年的婚姻全部都被記錄在《記得我有多愛你：不一般的婚姻愛情書信》一書中。杰里在情人節給他的妻子寫道：
“Valentine’s Day is here again. The weather looks cold and clammy…But I can happily go to work and try not to act too hammy. Cause I’ve got a warmness in my heart from my sunshine, my lifeline, my lambie! (I wish I could stay home and vie you a kiss!) xxx’s Jer”“情人節又一次到來，天氣又冷又濕……不過我能高高興興去上班，而且還得盡力讓自己不要手舞足蹈。因為我的心中充滿溫暖，這份溫暖來自于我的陽光，我的生命線，我的小乖乖！(多希望能留在家里，給你一個深情的吻！)你的杰里。”
Noah to Allie, The Notebook《戀戀筆記本》中諾亞寫給艾麗
O.K., so Noah and Allie may be a fictional couple, but Nicholas Sparks is a genius when it comes to composing a goose bumps–worthy love note. Novel turned movie The Notebook is the ultimate Valentine’s Day go-to。好吧，諾亞和艾麗是小說中編出來的一對，不過尼古拉斯·斯帕克斯在寫起讓人起雞皮疙瘩的情書來可是個天才。小說改編的電影《戀戀筆記本》已經成為了情人節的保留節目。
“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。”“我最愛的艾麗：昨夜我無法入眠，因為我知道，我們兩人已經結束了。我的心中已經沒有苦悶，因為我知道，我們之間的感情不是虛假的。如果將來我們都重新開始了自己的生活，在某個遙遠的地方遇到了對方，我會對你快樂地微笑，回憶起我們在樹下度過的那個夏天，回想起我們一起學習，在愛中成長。最美的愛情能夠喚醒靈魂，讓我們追求到更多；最美的愛情會在我們心中種下一團火焰，讓我們的心靈回歸平和。這就是你給與我的。我也是我曾希望能夠永遠帶給你的。我愛你。我們會再相見的。諾亞。”
