Could someone tell me which of these two sentences is correct?

1. I love dawn.
2. I love the dawn.

Dawn here having the meaning of the period in the day.

Also, should I use "the" before nouns: dawn, night, twilight, morning etc. when talking about a particular period in 24 hours?

One more thing, I'm a little confused when it comes to stating whether I love darkness OR the darkness/dark OR the dark.

Could someone help me? Please?

Thanks in advance. :)