Say that the men of the old black tower,
Though they but feed as the goatherd feeds,
Their money spent, their wine gone sour,
Lack nothing that a soldier needs,
That all are oath-bound men:
Those banners come not in.
There in the tomb stand the dead upright,
But winds come up from the shore:
They shake when the winds roar,
Old bones upon the mountain shake.
Those banners come to bribe or threaten,
Or whisper that a man’s a fool
Who, when his own right king’s forgotten,
Cares what king sets up his rule.
If he died long ago
Why do you dread us so?
There in the tomb drops the faint moonlight,
But wind comes up from the shore:
They shake when the winds roar,
Old bones upon the mountain shake.
The tower’s old cook that must climb and clamber
Catching small birds in the dew of the morn
When we hale men lie stretched in slumber
Swears that he hears the king’s great horn.
But he’s a lying hound:
Stand we on guard oath-bound!
There in the tomb the dark grows blacker,
But wind comes up from the shore:
They shake when the winds roar,
Old bones upon the mountain shake.
A sepulchral, desolate scent. Long-dead soldiers, oath-bound; the perfume of their armor, the chill wind that surges through their tower, white bone and blackened steel: white sandalwood, ambergris, wet ozone, galbanum and leather with ebony, teak, burnt grasses, English ivy and a hint of red wine.
serenanicolefessenden –
I don’t know what it is, but I was wondering why this scent combined with my clean laundry brought me back to Germany as a child. The connection was made when my friend told me it reminded her of a grandma – my oma! Not to say she’s not a formidable woman or that this isn’t a formidable scent, but it seems not quite what the word lurid brings to mind. Definitely a clean but not too clean soft scent that also has a bit of hidden strength behind it. While scents do change with batches and with age, needless to say I love it and will be purchasing a full bottle of it in the immediate future.
littlejackal –
Sweet, spicy, and almost kind of…. salty? It reminds me of fruit that’s been sitting in the sun mixed with warm spices. The ozone and lavender lighten up the scent so that it’s not overwhelmingly heady. Not really my style, but certainly an interesting fragrance.
Lauren –
I’m not even sure where to start with that description, so I’ll just say it’s a nice fruity musk. The currants are the topmost note and what dominates in the beginning, but the musk is really what stays behind.
It’s actually a really clean scent (probably the lavender), which I think a lot of people would like. Unfortunately the ozone lasts the whole way through, and that note just never plays out quite right on me, personally.
lookingglass –
From Dracula by Bram Stoker(1897):
“But the Count! Never did I imagine such wrath and fury, even in the demons of the pit. His eyes were positively blazing. The red light in them was lurid, as if the flames of hell-fire blazed behind them. His face was deathly pale, and the lines of it were hard like drawn wires; the thick eyebrows that met over the nose now seemed like a heaving bar of white-hot metal. With a fierce sweep of his arm, he hurled the woman from him, and then motioned to the others…” (pg. 36).
The hell-fire of currents and smoke, the white-hot combination of musk and ozone…the fierce power and sexual magnitude…this is the perfect scent description. Thank you, Beth. I think you did your homework!
janel –
Right out of the imp I was indeed shocked, almost horrified, but not quite in a good way, it put me off at first and I actually was reluctant to apply it and actually try it on, it just smells very very strong and fierce right fresh, as soon as I actually gave it a go and rubbed in on my wrists really well the fierce dulled down a LOT! And it morphed into this absolutely heady wonderful clean lavender with just the right amount of musk, I fell so head over heels in love with it i only tried it today and already half the imp is gone, ive been re applying it all day haha! Ill be definitely buying a full size, this reminds me of a lazy but sensual warm summer night somehow.