Carrier of news and knowledge,
Instrument of trade and industry,
Promoter of mutual acquaintance,
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Carrier of news and knowledge,
Instrument of trade and industry,
Promoter of mutual acquaintance,
Of peace and good-will
Among men and nations.

And oft the pangs of absence to remove
By letters, soft interpreters of love.

And oft the pangs of absence to remove
By letters, soft interpreters of love.

Belshazzar had a letter,--
He never had but one;
Belshazzar's correspondence
Concluded and begun
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Belshazzar had a letter,--
He never had but one;
Belshazzar's correspondence
Concluded and begun
In that immortal copy
The conscience of us all
Can read without its glasses
On revelation's wall.

Heav'n first taught letters for some wretch's aid,
Some banish'd lover, or some captive maid.

Heav'n first taught letters for some wretch's aid,
Some banish'd lover, or some captive maid.

I have only made this letter rather long because I have not had
time to make it shorter.
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I have only made this letter rather long because I have not had
time to make it shorter.
[Fr., Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parceque je n'ai pas
eu le loisir de la faire plus courte.]

A strange volume of real life in the daily packet of the postman.
Eternal love and instant payment!

A strange volume of real life in the daily packet of the postman.
Eternal love and instant payment!

A piece of simple goodness--a letter gushing from the heart; a
beautiful unstudied vindication of the worth and untiring read more

A piece of simple goodness--a letter gushing from the heart; a
beautiful unstudied vindication of the worth and untiring
sweetness of human nature--a record of the invulnerability of
man, armed with high purpose, sanctified by truth.

Line after line my gushing eye o'erflow,
Led thro' a said variety of woe:
Now warm in read more

Line after line my gushing eye o'erflow,
Led thro' a said variety of woe:
Now warm in love, now with'ring in my bloom,
Lost in a convent's solitary gloom!

An exquisite invention this,
Worthy of Love's most honeyed kiss,--
This art of writing billet-doux--
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An exquisite invention this,
Worthy of Love's most honeyed kiss,--
This art of writing billet-doux--
In buds, and odors, and bright hues!
In saying all one feels and thinks
In clever daffodils and pinks;
In puns of tulips; and in phrases,
Charming for their truth, of daisies.