somberest

And, indeed, the passengers on the Narrenschiff (1494) are fools in the somberest sense; for, like all men, they are sinners.

WISDOM OF THE FOOL WALTER KAISER 1968

A gentler expression softened the emperor's features, as a gleam of sunshine forces itself into the somberest forest depths.

Under the Rose Frederic Stewart Isham

The somberest shadows, the most neutral twilights, the most austere recesses are lighted by it as though so many freakish sunbeams had severed relations with the parent luminary to rest quietly in the coolnesses of the ancient forest.

The Mountains Stewart Edward White 1909

The somberest shadows, the most neutral twilights, the most austere recesses are lighted by it as though so many freakish sunbeams had severed relations with the parent luminary to rest quietly in the coolnesses of the ancient forest.

The Mountains 1904

Probably, what had given my pessimism its somberest tone was the attitude of the public toward Burbank's high appointments.

The Plum Tree David Graham Phillips 1889

I heard, not without concern, that the neighboring industry of Lynn was penetrating Salem, and that the ancient haunt of the witches and the birthplace of our subtlest and somberest wizard was becoming a great shoe-town; but my concern was less for its memories and sensibilities than for an odious duty which I owed that industry, together with all the others in New England.

Literary Friends and Acquaintance; a Personal Retrospect of American Authorship William Dean Howells 1878

I heard, not without concern, that the neighboring industry of Lynn was penetrating Salem, and that the ancient haunt of the witches and the birthplace of our subtlest and somberest wizard was becoming a great shoe-town; but my concern was less for its memories and sensibilities than for an odious duty which I owed that industry, together with all the others in New England.

My First Visit to New England (from Literary Friends and Acquaintance) William Dean Howells 1878

My name is, I believe, tolerably well known to the people as a writer of tragic tales, but the somberest imagination never conceived anything so tragic as my own life and history.

The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce — Volume 2: In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians Ambrose Bierce 1878