The Radiant Dark

George Eliot 1819 (Nuneaton, Warwickshire) – 1880 (Chelsea, London)



Should I long that dark were fair? Say, O song.
Lacks my love aught that I should long?
Dark the night with breath all flow'rs
And tender broken voice that fills
With ravishment the list'ning hours.
Whis'prings, wooings,
Liquid ripples, and soft ring-dove cooings,
in low-toned rhythm that love's aching stills.

Dark the night, 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 foster'd ray,
Thou hast a joy too deep for shallow day.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 28, 2023

30 sec read
142

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBBBBB XCXCDD
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 535
Words 98
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6

George Eliot

Mary Anne Evans, better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. more…

All George Eliot poems | George Eliot Books

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