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.

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.]

Messenger of sympathy and love,
Servant of parted friends,
Consoler of the lonely,
Bond read more

Messenger of sympathy and love,
Servant of parted friends,
Consoler of the lonely,
Bond of the scattered family,
Enlarger of the common life.

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.

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.

(He) put that which was most material in the postscript.

(He) put that which was most material in the postscript.

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.

Every day brings a ship,
Every ship brings a word;
Well for those who have no fear,
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Every day brings a ship,
Every ship brings a word;
Well for those who have no fear,
Looking seaward well assured
That the word the vessel brings
Is the word they wish to hear.