Gustave Flaubert to Louise Colet

August 15, 1846

I will cover you with love when next I see you,
with caresses, with ecstasy.
I want to gorge you with all the joys of the flesh, so that you faint and die.
I want you to be amazed by me, and to confess to yourself that you had never even dreamed of such transports…
When you are old, I want you to recall those few hours,
I want your dry bones to quiver with joy when you think of them.

Gustave Flaubert to Louise Colet