Diary of John Quincy Adams, volume 2
1786-09-16
Copied off my Forensic for the Exhibition, and prepared it, to carry for Approbation to the President. I received in the fore-96noon, a Letter from Delia.1 White return'd this Evening from Haverhill.
Letter not found. Delia was the name JQA gave to Nancy Hazen in his poem, “An Epistle to Delia,” which he completed on 12 Dec. 1785 after resolving to put an end to his feelings toward her. The name may have been derived from the collection of 16th-century sonnets by Samuel Daniel about another Delia, the love of the poet's youth (M/JQA/28, Adams Papers, Microfilms, Reel No. 223).