An illustration from a 1905 issue of The Quiver magazine.

An illustration from Clear as the Noon Day by Ethel Penrose (1893).  The caption reads: "Paul tried to peer into the gathering darkness."

An illustration from Jock of the Bushveld by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick (1907).  The caption reads: "The haunting mystery of eyes and nothing more."

Here's a winter's night from The Poetry of Robert Burns, Vol. 1 (1896).

An illustration from The Wrong Woman by Charles D. Stewart (1912).  The caption reads: "The stars, a vast audience, had all taken their places."

An illustration from Etidorhpa, or The Strange History of a Mysterious Being and the Account of the Initiate's Remarkable Journey by John Uri Lloyd (1895).  The caption reads: "Facing the open window he turned the pupils of his eyes upward."

An illustration from an 1874 issue of London Society Illustrated magazine.  The caption reads: "They held the door partly open, and peered out into the dark night."

"The sky is pocked with stars.  What eyes the wise men must have had to see a new one in so many.  I wonder, were there fewer stars then?  I don't know.  I fancy there's a mystery in it." —The Lion in Winter

Our illustration appears in Pleasant Hours, 1887.

An illustration from a 1900 issue of Punch magazine.  The caption reads: "Watchman: What of the Night?"

Traditionally, a falling star is considered an inauspicious omen.  To propose marriage during a meteor shower is surely tempting fate.

This image appeared in Punch, 1866, two weeks after a dramatic Leonid meteor shower (with reports of a stunning 2000 to 5000 meteors per hour).

An illustration from an 1867 issue of Beadle's magazine.

"Step by step, nearer, nearer, until he touched airy hands that clung, that drew him to the heart of mystery."  From Amélie Rives's The Ghost Garden, 1918.

An illustration from a 1904 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.

An illustration from a 1922 issue of Life magazine.

An illustration from a 1912 issue of Metropolitan magazine.

An illustration from a 1907 issue of The Windsor magazine.  The caption reads: "A dull, unearthly glare surrounded it."

An illustration from an 1895 issue of The Canadian magazine.  The caption reads: "And thus he passed into the night again for evermore."

An illustration from an 1894 issue of Century Illustrated magazine.

An illustration from a 1908 issue of Harper's magazine.  The caption reads: "The puzzling black marks on the white pages spoke to us."