Cohen’s letter to Marianne Ihlen said ‘our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon’ 
 
 Leonard Cohen penned a poignant final letter to his dying muse Marianne Ihlen, a longtime friend of hers revealed on Canadian radio. 
 
 Ihlen, whom Cohen wrote about in So Long, Marianne and Bird on a Wire, died in Norway on 29 July, aged 81. 
 
 My favourite album: Songs of Leonard Cohen by Leonard Cohen Read more 
 
 Cohen met her on the Greek island Hydra in the 1960s and they became lovers. So Long, Marianne appeared on his 1967 album Songs of Leonard Cohen. 
 
 Her close friend Jan Christian Mollestad got in touch with Cohen to tell him Ihlen was dying. 
 
 “It took only two hours and in came this beautiful letter from Leonard to Marianne. We brought it to her the next day and she was fully conscious and she was so happy that he had already written something for her,” Mollestad said. 
 
 Mollestad, a documentary maker, read Cohen’s letter to her before she died. “It said well Marianne it’s come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine. 
 
 “And you know that I’ve always loved you for your beauty and your wisdom, but I don’t need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road.” 
 
 Leonard Cohen: 10 of the best Read more 
 
 Mollestad told CBC that when he read the line “stretch out your hand,” Ihlen stretched out her hand. “Only two days later she lost consciousness and slipped into death. I wrote a letter back to Leonard saying in her final moments I hummed Bird on a Wire because that was the song she felt closest to. And then I kissed her on the head and left the room, and said “so long, Marianne.” 
 
 Leonard Cohen’s Facebook page also marked Ihlen’s death. “The death last week of Marianne Ihlen, the woman immortalized in So Long, Marianne, has evoked an overwhelming response from those who knew Marianne well, those who knew her only as Leonard Cohen’s muse, and even those who previously didn’t know there was a real Marianne,” a post said. 
 
 Ihlen’s funeral was held in Oslo on Friday. 
 
 ||||| The woman who was Leonard Cohen's muse and inspired songs like "Bird on a Wire" and "So Long, Marianne" has died. Marianne Ihlen passed away on July 29th. She was 81 years old. 
 
 She and Cohen were lovers in the 1960s after they met in Greece. When Cohen learned Ihlen's health was deteriorating, he immediately penned her a letter. Her close friend Jan Christian Mollestad, a documentary filmmaker, read Cohen's letter to her before she died. 
 
 Follow As It Happens on Facebook & Twitter 
 
 Ihlen's funeral is planned for Friday in Oslo. 
 
 As It Happens guest host Rosemary Barton spoke to Mollestad in Norway. 
 
 When I read the lines 'stretch out your hand,' she stretched out her hand - Jan Christian Mollestad 
 
 Rosemary Barton: We're very sorry to hear about the death of Marianne. How did you meet her? 
 
 Jan Christian Mollestad: I met her while I was making a documentary film about her first husband, who was a very famous Norwegian writer. We went to Hydra, the same place they went on their first big trip but as we got closer to Hydra, more and more of the talk was about Leonard because her husband deserted her right after the birth of their son. 
 
 When Marianne came to Hydra after giving birth in Norway, her husband was not there. There was only one shop in town. And she came in there with her little basket, with her little baby and she was crying to this Greek lady. And then in the doorway, she was just seeing the silhouette, was a man who was calling to her and said 'I know that you're Marianne, and I know what's happened, come out in the sun and have a glass of wine.' And that was Leonard and he took such good care of her. 
 
 Marianne Ihlen and Jan Christian Mollestad have been friends for over a decade. (Jan Christian Mollestad) 
 
 RB: How did you find out that Leonard Cohen had written her a special note? 
 
 JCM: Marianne and I were very close. Fourteen days ago, I got a text from her saying 'Hello, it's Marianne, I'm in the hospital in Oslo. I'm dying. Please take care of my husband Jan and my son." And I phoned her immediately and said "what, what?!" 
 
 She said doctors found that she was in the last period of leukaemia. She said I'm going to die, I only have a few days left. And we rushed to the hospital, and she said please could you tell Leonard what is happening. So I went home and I sent him a letter telling him that, unfortunately, it seems like Marianne only has a few days to live. It took only two hours and in came this beautiful letter from Leonard to Marianne. We brought it to her the next day and she was fully conscious and she was so happy that he had already written something for her. 
 
 Leonard Cohen sent a heart-touching goodbye letter within two hours of finding out that Marianne Ihlen was on her deathbed. (The Associated Press) 
 
 RB: I know you don't have the letter in front of you, but can you remember part of it? 
 
 JCM: It said well Marianne it's come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine. And you know that I've always loved you for your beauty and your wisdom, but I don't need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road… 
 
 When I read the lines "stretch out your hand," she stretched out her hand. Only two days later she lost consciousness and slipped into death. I wrote a letter back to Leonard saying in her final moments I hummed "A Bird on a Wire" because that was the song she felt closest to. And then I kissed her on the head and left the room, and said "so long, Marianne." 
 
 To hear more on the story of Marianne Ihlen and Leonard Cohen, listen to our full interview.
– "Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine." Those are among the last words Leonard Cohen wrote to the woman who inspired his songs So Long, Marianne and Bird on the Wire. Marianne Ihlen, known as Cohen's muse, died in Norway on July 29 at 81 years old, the Guardian reports. It was Ihlen's friend, Jan Christian Mollestad, who informed Cohen late last month that she was dying of leukemia. Within two hours, Mollestad tells the CBC, a letter from Cohen arrived. "We brought it to her the next day and she was fully conscious," he says, "and she was so happy that he had already written something for her." Two days later, Ihlen "lost consciousness and slipped into death." In the letter, Cohen tells Ihlen that he always loved her wisdom and beauty, "but I don't need to say anything more about that because you know all about that. But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend. Endless love, see you down the road." The pair met on the Greek Island of Hydra in the 60s, per Rolling Stone, and ended up staying together for seven years after Cohen invited Ihlen and her young son to live with him in Montreal. A post on Cohen's Facebook page says Ihlen's death has "evoked an overwhelming response from those who knew Marianne well, those who knew her only as Leonard Cohen's muse, and even those who previously didn't know there was a real Marianne." In an accompanying post, Mollestad writes that, "In her last hour I held her hand and hummed Bird on the Wire."