No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist
Wolf’s-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;
Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss’d
By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;
Make not your rosary of yew-berries,
Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be
Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl
A partner in your sorrow’s mysteries;
For shade to shade will come too drowsily,
And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.
But when the melancholy fit shall fall
Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,
That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,
And hides the green hill in an April shroud;
Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,
Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,
Or on the wealth of globed peonies;
Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,
Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,
And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.
She dwells with Beauty — Beauty that must die;
And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips
Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,
Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil’d Melancholy has her sovran shrine,
Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue
Can burst Joy’s grape against his palate fine;
His soul shalt taste the sadness of her might,
And be among her cloudy trophies hung.
Beauty, joy, pleasure and delight: devastated. This is the scent of the hopelessness, torment and despair of love. Lavender and wisteria, heart-wrenching pale rose, desolate white sandalwood and thin, tear-streaked white musk.
Kristin –
Othello is mostly a rose scent, but the spices keep it from being boring and one-note. It may not be my absolute favorite BPAL rose scent, but I enjoy it, and it’s different enough for it to have a place in my imp collection, though not my big bottle collection.
lani057bp –
Oh, Othello, how you bewilder me so. Out of the bottle, you’re overwhelmingly pungent with an immediate soapy quality. At first whiff, I promptly turned away discarding the thought of you. That was unfair of me though, not to give you a proper chance; so I did. Surprisingly, on my skin you mellow out and become quite soft and velvety. Still, there is something in you that I just cannot embrace. Your mellow side still exudes soapy, albeit soft and velvety, roses.
[email protected] –
I get a bright, clean, slightly piquant scent from this. There is something distinctly watery, like a men’s cologne. On me, the roses blend into the background and it’s just a bright, clean scent with unisex appeal. I’d certainly order an imp and possibly even a bottle in the future.
Nuri –
Othello and I have a love hate relationship. I’ve opened the bottle and hated it and then a few days later opened it and loved it. The variable is me so I guess it depends on my mood. I think it is the rose, it either comes across classic or oppressive almost “churchy”. I think if you love a big velvety rose that has some depth you will like Othello.