Edmonton, 4 December 1966

Autograph letter signed (“Leonard”) to Marianne Ihlen ("Darling"), Edmonton, Alberta, 4 December 1966.

One page, 257 x 202mm; with transmittal envelope, addressed in autograph to "Marianne Ihlen Cohen."

“I was able at last to be what I must be, a singer": an early concert marks the beginning of Cohen's transformation from poet to singer-songwriter. He continues, "I was able to give to over a thousand people the love that I have never been able to place, the ungreedy love which I know can warm the universe. I know now what I must train myself for. I must work, I must be celibate, I must be selfless."

Regarding their relationship, he writes: "I hope we can repair the painful spaces where uncertainties have led us. I hope you can lead yourself out of despair, and I hope I can help you.” The letter is accompanied by Cohen's enclosures, two local newspaper clippings: "Cohen a Poetic Puzzle, But He Seeks Honesty," The Edmonton Journal, Tuesday, 29 November 1966, and "A Session with Poet Cohen," The Gateway, Friday, 2 December 1966.

By descent from Marianne Ihlen.