COVE

To my dearest wife, 

In celebration of our tenth anniversary, I present to you this book, with two translations of Rubáiyát, one of your favorite poems. 

I found this edition in a bookstore on my recent trip to New York. The green cloth cover and its beautiful gold embossing reminded me of your lovely green eyes and your love of life’s small luxuries. Those dainty earrings you love so much had a similar design to the florals I saw in much of the artwork, so I knew you would appreciate the style. 

The illustrator, Willy Pogány, I know is one of your favorites from those books your mother read when you were a child. The style is somewhat different from those of his previous works, but beautiful nonetheless, and I am certain you will appreciate the artful design of the many illustrations in this piece. 

One of the stanzas, stanza 12, paired with an illustration to match, reminded me of one of our first dates, “Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,//A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse — and Thou// Beside me singing in the wilderness —//And Wilderness is Paradise enow”. Do you remember that May afternoon we spent in the park when we were first seeing one another? The flowers were blooming, the sun was shining, and your smile was as radiant as ever. 

I know times are hard now, and money has been a bit tight since the market crashed, but I wanted you to know how much I love you, and wanted you to have something you could enjoy and admire. As such, with this book and letter, you’ll find a bottle of wine. When I return home, we can read through the poem and enjoy a few glasses together. To quote stanza 7, “Come, fill the Cup, and in the Fire of Spring//The Winter Garment of Repentance fling:// The Bird of Time has but a little way//To fly — and Lo! The Bird is on the Wing.”

So, here is to ten years, and many, many more. 

Forever yours, from your loving husband, 

Charles