‘Tis said that when
The hands of men
Tamed this primeval wood,
And hoary trees with groans of woe,
Like warriors by an unknown foe,
Were in their strength subdued,
The virgin Earth Gave instant birth
To springs that ne’er did flow
That in the sun Did rivulets run,
And all around rare flowers did blow
The wild rose pale Perfumed the gale
And the queenly lily adown the dale
(Whom the sun and the dew
And the winds did woo),
With the gourd and the grape luxuriant grew.
So when in tears
The love of years
Is wasted like the snow,
And the fine fibrils of its life
By the rude wrong of instant strife
Are broken at a blow
Within the heart
Do springs upstart
Of which it doth now know,
And strange, sweet dreams,
Like silent streams
That from new fountains overflow,
With the earlier tide
Of rivers glide
Deep in the heart whose hope has died —
Quenching the fires its ashes hide, —
Its ashes, whence will spring and grow
Sweet flowers, ere long,
The rare and radiant flowers of song!
A sunlit ancient forest, dotted with wild roses, grape vine, and queenly lilies, clothed in swirls of opium smoke.
artimisia –
On me, the orange smell disappeared within the first ten minutes. Skin chemistry issue, I guess. I was left with a herbal spicyness which, I agree, smelled like a magic shop. I think it would have made a better room scent than a perfume, though.
Deja –
delicate and lovely, the ambergris and carnation give it a bit of basement mustiness, which i actually think works very nicely. it gives the spiciness of the patchouli and tang of the orange blossom an antique aura. this is light and wistful.
Chelsea –
This was my second choice for myself to try (the other being Anne Bonny) and was very surprised by this. I’m not normally into floral scents but it was the Patchouli that got me to try it out. And my goodness does it smell amazing both in the bottle and on my skin. Makes me smell like a more feminine version of my magic shop (while it smells like Saytr on the masculine side). I really don’t know what my skin picked up on but its lovely. I just wish it wasn’t so light as time passes. Once I try out all the other scents I want to try this might be one of those bigger bottle buys.
VetchVespers –
This is very nice. The orange blossom smells like dried or candied orange peel . It’s very orangey, but not citrusy. It balances well with the patchouli, which gives Masquerade an earthy sweetness. The carnation’s spiciness lurks in the background with the amber, almost giving this a subtle clove vibe and adding a luxe feel. This makes me think of warm bodies crowded together in soft light. It’s sensual and elegant and very aptly named. I’m definately considering a 5ml.