In 1891 Oscar Wilde's "Duchess of Padua" premiered on this day in New York City.

“I did not think I should be ever loved: do you indeed 
Love me so much as now you say you do?
Ask of the sea-bird if it loves the sea, 
Ask of the roses if they love the rain,
Ask of the little lark, that will not sing
Till day break, if it loves to see the day:
And yet, these are but empty images,
Mere shadows of my love, which is a fire
So great that all the waters of the main
Can not avail to quench it.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Duchess of Padua