We caught the tread of dancing feet,
We loitered down the moonlit street,
And stopped beneath the harlot’s house.
Inside, above the din and fray,
We heard the loud musicians play
The “Treues Liebes Herz” of Strauss.
Like strange mechanical grotesques,
Making fantastic arabesques,
The shadows raced across the blind.
We watched the ghostly dancers spin
To sound of horn and violin,
Like black leaves wheeling in the wind.
Like wire-pulled automatons,
Slim silhouetted skeletons
Went sidling through the slow quadrille.
The took each other by the hand,
And danced a stately saraband;
Their laughter echoed thin and shrill.
Sometimes a clockwork puppet pressed
A phantom lover to her breast,
Sometimes they seemed to try to sing.
Sometimes a horrible marionette
Came out, and smoked its cigarette
Upon the steps like a live thing.
Then, turning to my love, I said,
“The dead are dancing with the dead,
The dust is whirling with the dust.”
But she–she heard the violin,
And left my side, and entered in:
Love passed into the house of lust.
Then suddenly the tune went false,
The dancers wearied of the waltz,
The shadows ceased to wheel and whirl.
And down the long and silent street,
The dawn, with silver-sandalled feet,
Crept like a frightened girl.
The dead are dancing with the dead, the dust is whirling with the dust: angel’s trumpet, violet, white sandalwood, oude, copaiba balsam, angelica, white tea, olibanum, and oakmoss.
Ivy.Grims –
This is a rather strong and enticing scent, for sure. My boyfriend said it reminded him of a smoky chocolate pumpkin. Smell lasts for a long time. I really do enjoy this one as I prefer stronger, longer lasting scents). Definitely a great autumn scent, but I’ll wear this one throughout the year. Love it! 5/5
crystallineknowledge –
This scent is one of the longer-lasting ones of the Labyrinth collection, and everyone who smelled it on me, including myself, said I smelled like cookies. It’s definitely a delicious, foodie scent, but one that dries out to a sharper, almost bitter note that I think is probably the tobacco leaf or maybe the leather. It kind of made me hungry while wearing it, and while I don’t know if this scent really encapsulates Hoggle as a character, it definitely was a smell I didn’t mind wearing.