How right they are to adore you! Dark am I, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon. Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother's sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I have neglected. (Song of Songs 1:5-6)

The Beloved responds to her friends. The tents of Kedar, a Bedouin federation in Northwest Arabia, were made of black goat hair, very dark indeed. According to Psalm 120 "to dwell in the tents of Kedar" was to be war-like and separated from God.

The Dark Lady perceives herself as an outsider. She is embarrassed by her difference. But she is also aware of - proud of - her beauty.

In Sonnet 132 Shakespeare seems to seek the pity of his Dark Lady:

As those two mourning eyes become thy face:
O, let it then as well beseem thy heart
To mourn for me, since mourning doth thee grace,
And suit thy pity like in every part.
Then will I swear beauty herself is black
And all they foul that thy complexion lack.

I approach my Lover aware of my many flaws, perhaps preoccupied with my failures. But even in critique, apology, self-pity, and apprehension I assert my loveliness, my own claim to be loved.

Listen to Dark Am I Yet Lovely by Sinead O'Connor on YouTube.