My well-beloved was stripped. Knowing my whim,
She wore her tinkling gems, but naught besides:
And showed such pride as, while her luck betides,
A sultan’s favored slave may show to him.
When it lets off its lively, crackling sound,
This blazing blend of metal crossed with stone
Gives me an ecstasy I’ve only known
Where league of sound and lustre can be found.
She let herself be loved: then, drowsy-eyed,
Smiled down from her high couch in languid ease.
My love was deep and gentle as the seas
And rose to her as to a cliff the tide.
My own approval of each dreamy pose,
Like a tamed tiger, cunningly she sighted:
And candour, with lubricity united,
Gave piquancy to every one she chose.
Her limbs and hips, burnished with changing lustres
Before my eyes, clairvoyant and serene,
Swanned themselves, undulating in their sheen;
Her breasts and belly, of my vine the clusters,
Like evil angels rose, my fancy twitting,
To kill the peace which over me she’d thrown,
And to disturb her from the crystal throne
Where, calm and solitary, she was sitting.
So swerved her pelvis that, in one design,
Antiope’s white rump it seemed to graft
To a boy’s torso, merging fore and aft.
The talc on her brown tan seemed half-divine.
The lamp resigned its dying flame. Within,
The hearth alone lit up the darkened air,
And every time it sighed a crimson flare
It drowned in blood that amber-coloured skin.
Skin musk and honey, blood-red rose, orange blossom, white peach, red apple, frankincense and myrrh.
ksdmediamania –
Oh baby, for a mens scent.. yummy! I even wear it sometimes!
libbiehawker –
This is a delicious, warm, vanilla-leading scent on me. It has a buttery, almost popcorn-like smell when first applied, and dries down to a nice balance between vanilla and amber. I’m not getting the other notes with my notoriously tricky skin chemistry, but I do love that vanilla/amber combo!
Jahmiah –
Got this one for my hubby but had to try it on myself as well. The vanilla and amber turn into a very delightful hot buttered popcorn sort of smell on me. It’s even more delightful on the guy. Overall a very sweet, woody and buttery unisex scent. To me it seems sort of gourmand. I would wear it to the movies when you want to be a little naughty and are drinking wine you snuck in….
Yekupa –
I enjoyed the complexity of this scent. I’m not great at picking out notes but the vanilla stood out to me with something brighter behind it. Maybe the pine, maybe the juniper. It’s a good scent but not for me though.
mtchyg –
This smells more complicated in the vial than it does on me. On me, it is pretty much pure sweet vanilla. It’s not bad but much sweeter than I expected. I wish I got more of the woodsy scent with it but apparently it doesn’t come out with my body chemistry.
lotuseaterarts –
Smells beautiful out of the bottle! A sweet, delicate, balanced pine and vanilla fragrance…almost like almond in a way.
Exactly as described.
Very soothing, subtle unisex smell.
Elizabeth –
To me this is a unisex scent. I like pine n vanilla together a lot, and if it were a bit more floral I would get a bigger bottle. This would smell yummy on a hot guy!
Gloame –
Oh, wow, what??? Pine and vanilla top notes? So odd and yet so so so perfect together! This dries down to a lovely, confident, vanilla pine tree.
Priapus was a god of fertility. If I doused my husband in this… well, I’m sure you can take it from there. Thanks BPAL team for frimping this to me!
Kathleen –
I am a huge fan of so, so many of BPAL’s blends but this is by far and away my enduring fave. I was concerned the long-ago formula change would have affected the scent but it’s still terrific. The pine and vanilla mingle with rosewood, amber giving a warmth and softness that is evocative but not overwhelming. As a femme-presenting nonbinary person I find this scent utterly balanced; the depth of woodiness (pun fully intended), the sweetness and light on the finish, and the lovely match with my fave cigarettes for evening wear. I have never found anything like it anywhere else.
dementia_divine –
In the imp: The white pine note jumps out to my nose at first, but I also smell the vanilla, juniper, and rosewood. It reads as masculine to my nose, but I think the vanilla note keeps it from being strictly masculine.
Wet: Pine and vanilla. The juniper is present, and I get the amber as well as the rosewood. Mostly, it’s pine, juniper, and vanilla, and the vanilla note is really nice. I can’t stop sniffing my arm!
Dry: The vanilla is stronger now, and it’s a wonderful, creamy vanilla. I think this may be the same vanilla note that is found in Tombstone. I can detect amber and juniper lingering in the background (there is more amber than juniper on me), as well as white pine, but it rather faint now.
Verdict: I will be needing a bottle of this one!
[email protected] –
My chemistry turns this blend into something that reminds me of Prairie Farms vanilla ice cream with something thrown in. It is pleasant and so odd that it recalled an ice cream from my childhood. Perhaps it will take a different kind of chemistry to bring out all the notes in the blend.
Sara –
At first this smells of pine and juniper, reminding me of Black Forest. As it dries, it morphs into a gentler version of Tombstone. Vanilla and cedar-ish rosewood blend beautifully with the soft, powdery amber.