| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| Songs from “The Spanish Gypsy.” I. The Dark |
| | | George Eliot (1819–80) |
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| SHOULD I long that dark were fair? | |
| Say, O song, | |
| Lacks my love aught, that I should long? | |
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| Dark the night, with breath all flow’rs, | |
| And tender broken voice that fills | 5 |
| With ravishment the listening hours: | |
| Whisperings, wooings, | |
| Liquid ripples and soft ring-dove cooings | |
| In low-ton’d rhythm that love’s aching stills. | |
| Dark the night, | 10 |
| Yet is she bright, | |
| For in her dark she brings the mystic star, | |
| Trembling yet strong, as is the voice of love, | |
| From some unknown afar. | |
| O radiant Dark! O darkly-fostered ray! | 15 |
| Thou hast a joy too deep for shallow Day. | |
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