My bursting heart must find vent at my pen.

The line casts letter-writing as an emotional necessity rather than a polite accomplishment. By describing her heart as “bursting” and needing “vent,” Adams frames writing as a pressure-release valve: the pen becomes the only safe outlet for feelings that cannot be spoken publicly or acted upon directly. The phrasing also hints at the constraints of distance and circumstance—when conversation is impossible, the written page must carry the full weight of affection, anxiety, grief, or political worry. In a broader sense, it captures how private correspondence can function as both intimacy and self-preservation, turning personal turmoil into articulate testimony.