A Romantic Love Letter written by John Ruskin
October 13, 2009 by Carol
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A Romantic Love Letter written by John Ruskin to Euphemia Gray.
It is believed that this romantic love letter was written November 11, 1847
When we are alone – You and I – together – Mais – c’est inconceivable – I was just trying – this evening after dinner – to imagine our sitting after dinner at Keswick – vous et moi… I couldn’t do it – it seemed so impossible that I should ever get you all to myself – I shall not be able to speak a word – I shall be running round you – and kneeling to you and holding up my hands to you as Dinah does her paws – speechless – I shan’t do it so well as Dinah though – I shall be clumsy and mute – at once perfectly oppressed with delight – if you speak to me I shall not know what you say – you will have to pat me – and point to something for me to fetch and carry for you – or make me lie down on a rug and be quiet – or send me out of the room until I promise to be a good dog; and when you let me in again – I shall be worse – what shall I do?
The year after this love letter was written, Ruskin married Effie Gray, for whom he had written his fantasy novel The King of the Golden River (she was only 12 years old at the time). Their marriage was notoriously unhappy, eventually being annulled in 1854 on grounds of his “incurable impotency,” a charge Ruskin later disputed, even going so far as to offer to prove his virility at the court’s request. However he did admit he had never consummated the marriage. His diaries also showed he was shocked at what women looked like when they were naked after having been working as an artist and seeing only the classic art impressions of women. In court, the Ruskin family counter-attacked Effie as being mentally unbalanced.
Effie later married the artist John Everett Millais, who had been Ruskin’s protegé, in July 1855.
What questions does this raise for you?
