Mark Twain to Olivia Langdon

Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), United States writer and humorist best known for his novels about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (1835-1910))

Mark Twain wrote this letter to Olivia Langdon, his future wife

May 12, 1869

Out of the depths of my happy heart wells a great tide of love and prayer for this priceless treasure that is confided to my life-long keeping.

You cannot see its intangible waves as they flow towards you, darling, but in these lines you will hear, as it were, the distant beating of the surf.