Frankenstein

mist and snow"; but I shall kill no albatross, therefore do not be
alarmed for my safety, or if I should come back to you as worn and woful
as the "Ancient Mariner"? You will smile at my allusion; but I will
disclose a secret. I have often attributed my attachment to, my
passionate enthusiasm for, the dangerous mysteries of ocean, to that
production of the most imaginative of modern poets. There is something
at work in my soul, which I do not understand. I am practically
industrious--pains-taking;--a workman to execute with perseverance and
labour:--but besides this, there is a love for the marvellous, a belief
in the marvellous, intertwined in all my projects, which hurries me out
of the common pathways of men, even to the wild sea and unvisited
regions I am about to explore.

But to return to dearer considerations. Shall I meet you again, after
having traversed immense seas, and returned by the most southern cape of
Africa or America? I dare not expect such success, yet I cannot bear to
look on the reverse of the picture. Continue for the present to write to
me by every opportunity: I may receive your letters on some occasions
when I need them most to support my spirits. I love you very tenderly.