Jonathan Swift (30 November, 1667 – 19 October, 1745) although a satirist, a major figure in the “Inner Circle” of Government is probably best known nowadays for his writing of Gulliver’s Travels. Whilst working for William Temple in London he became involved with a young woman Esther Van Homrigh who Swift renamed Vanessa and wrote her into one of his major love poems “Cadenus and Vanessa”.
The letter and the poem when taken together certainly leads us to assume that there was a strong love attraction between them but felt most strongly by Vanessa. Reading between the lines of this “missing you love letter” and others that exist between the two lovers suggest that initially Swift was also in love with Vanessa but perhaps by the time this letter was written he was trying to get out of the love relationship. indeed only two years later Esther Van Homrigh followed him to Ireland where there was a major confrontation. Esther Vanhomrigh died in 1723 at the age of 35
London, 1 September 1712
Had I a correspondent in China, I might have had an answer by this time. I never could think till now that London was so far off in your thoughts and that twenty miles were by your computation equal to some thousands.
I thought it a piece of charity to undeceive you in this point and to let you know, if you’ll give yourself the trouble to write, I may probably receive your letter in a day. ”Twas that made me venture to take pen in hand the third time. Sure you’ll not let it be to no purpose.
You must need be extremely happy where you are, to forget your absent friends; and I believe you have formed a new system and think there it no more of this world, passing your sensible horizon. If this be your notion I must excuse you; if not, you can plead no other excuse; and if it be so, I must reckon myself of another world; but I shall have much ado to be persuaded till you send me some convincing arguments of it.
Don’t dally in a thing of this consequence, but demonstrate that ’tis possible to keep up a correspondence between friends, though in different worlds, and assure one another, as I do you, that I am.
Your most obedient & humble servant
E. Van Homrigh
The confrontation I wrote about earlier appears to have mainly between Vanessa and Jonathan Swift but could have also involved Esther Johnson (nicknamed Stella). Esther Johnson when they first became friends was only seven years old and the daughter of a servant but in 1702 she accompanied him back to Ireland where she shared his house. She was fifteen years younger then him but it is thought by many that Stella was later secretly married to Swift.
