Letter 1038: I'm doing exhausting work: I keep writing to someone who keeps not answering.
I'm doing exhausting work: I keep writing to someone who keeps not answering. But if I don't keep prodding and prying some scrap of a letter out of you, the silence will calcify into habit.
Whether you consider this persistence of mine devoted or annoying, my mind is made up: I intend to keep our friendship alive through conversation. My old love for you hasn't faded one bit. And rightly so — I've never invested my friendship better.
That's why I complain about your silence. A more tender affection makes for readier complaints. The heart that loves deeply is sensitive [Text breaks off in source.]
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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You excuse yourself for your long silence.