The lover persists - the girl says "No"

The lover persists - the girl says "No" (quoted from Harrish Joy: MODERN LOVE LETTERS)

Letter No. 64. The lover persists

Dear Miss Neeta, 

I have knocked at your door for months vainly beliving [believing] that you would let me in. The sweet incence [incense? innocence?] that breathes across your face keeps me alive in torment of hopeless despair.

Without your "Yes", I am no better than a shipwrecked sailor. It is your dazzling presence in the placid stars that keeps me on the rudder in the firm hope of reaching land. Your unforgettable image glistens in the silvery light of the moon and sometimes plunges me in utter hopelessness of the situation and I feel my desire for you is like a child's desire for the moon ["asking for the moon" (idiom) - G].

Here I am wrapped in the drizzle of a biting rain while perpetual sunshine follows your feet. How I yearn to clasp you in sweet embrace and drink elixir from your crimson lips.

Will my desire melt away like early morning mist?

Yours ever,

Sunil 

Letter No. 65. The girl says "No" 

Dear Suresh,

Miss Sheila presents her compliments [to] Mr. Sunil for the fine sentiments expressed in his letter dated Nov. 28, 1992, but regrets it is not possible for her to marry him due to personal reasons and hopes that Mr. Sunil will not fail to find another girl even more satisfactorily suited to him.

Sheila Kaul 

(From Harrish Joy: MODERN LOVE LETTERS, 117 letters, 148 pages, ISBN 81-87810-11-4, Rs. 35. DISTRIBUTORS: Chaudhary Book Com, Meerut-250001, India. Laser typesetting: Bright Graphics, Abu Lane, Meerut. Publisher's name not printed, and the year of publication also not mentioned.)

Kishalay Sinha [G]