From John Keats, English poet, to Fanny Brawne - circa 1818

"I cannot exist without you - I am forgetful of every thing but seeing you again - my life seems to stop there - I see no further. You have absorb'd me.

"I have a sensation at the present moment as though I were dissolving. I have been astonished that men could die martyrs for religion - I have shudder'd at it - I shudder no more.

"I could be martyr'd for my religion - love is my religion - I could die for that. I could die for you. My creed is love and you are its only tenet - you have ravish'd me away by a power I cannot resist."