"In darkness let me dwell" is a song ascribed to the lutenist and composer John Dowland. Published in 1610, late in Dowland's career, the song shows the influence of Italian music of the early baroque. It was published as song no. 10 in A Musical Banquet, a 1610 anthology of songs for lute and voice from England, France, Italy, and Spain compiled by Robert Dowland, John's son. "In darkness let me dwell" has been recorded by many artists, notably by Steven Rickards and Dorothy Linell,
and by Alexander Chance and Toby Carr.
The text for Dowland's setting utilizes the first stanza of an anonymous poem included in the 1606 song collection Funeral Teares by John Coprario. Dowland's setting eventually became more famous than the Coprario setting.
Text
Second stanza included in the Coprario 1606 setting: