The Other Twilight

There are two twilights in every 24 hours, but in English we have only the one word, 'twilight', and that is invariably used for the ending of the daylight hours; for their beginning we have to say, if we want to be precise, 'morning twilight'. However, the Greeks – as is only fitting – had a word for it: amphiluke, which occurs just once in Homer, denoting the quality of light before dawn's rosy fingers get to work, when retreating night and advancing day are in equilibrium. In Latin, too, there is a word with the same meaning – diluculum. These fine words define the period when steals the morn upon the night and melts the shades away – and give me the perfect excuse to play Handel's sublimely beautiful duet from L'Allegro, Il Penseroso ed Il Moderato, sung here by Lucy Crowe and Mark Padmore – 'As steals the morn'...