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.
Tempest Lyle –
Beautiful, light floral. Clean without being soapy at all, just fresh like dew-covered flowers with a slight tartness to make it more complex. A good floral for people who don’t really like florals
gfeltovich –
Lovely sweet lemon and rose, very youthful and pretty. Kinda soapy-clean, but not too much. The carnation adds a nice depth and slight spice to it, along with the tea. The dry down is more tea and florals, with the lemon in the background.
Elizabeth WOlfe –
Oh I am in *love*.
On me, I’m getting something remarkably like the giant centfolia rose in front of my grandmother’s bathroom window that smelled like lemon pledge and heaven.
This has a citrus crispness to it that I adore. The floral with that touch of astringency is one of my favorite types of rose scents on my garden. I am getting the spiciness of the carnation, buy the whole composting blends together into a dizzying fresh rosey bouquet. I have this on one wrist and Athens on the other, and I almost knocked myself out with scent brushing my hair.
Definite full bottle!
Claire –
This ended up being a sharper scent on me than I anticipated. It’s a good scent, very floral and almost citrusy in my opinion, but not for me.
katecapewell –
I immediately smell a peppery rose, I’m assuming the pepper smell is tea, or perhaps it isn’t as I also get a waft of tea as it sits on my skin. The rose reminds me of my grandmother, but the spicy scent adds a little mischief to an otherwise old-world charm. A gentle hint of carnation as it sits longer on my skin, and the spiciness lingers in the background teasing at the senses. I’m not usually the flowery type, but this combination is quite lovely. I must add, while wearing this out shopping earlier, a young man directly behind me took a deep sniff. He obviously enjoyed it too. Highly recommend for the younger single female 😉
Jenna –
Fresh carnation, I usually hate carnation scents, but this one is gentle, soft, clean and lovely. The rose mixes very well with the carnation and there is a nice green smell. Very soft, but stays with me all day. Floral and feminine.
Hellokoi –
Smells just like getting a fresh carnation during Valentine’s Day in grade school. It’s slightly spicy, white, real carnation with a hint of green stem and a little blush of rose. I find this to be a really simple, charming scent.
Sammy –
A very gentle and soft smell.
It’s very light and clean.
Sara –
sweet, innocent, youthful, and feminine. i can easily pick out the white tea, carnation, and fresh dewy rose. it starts out gentle and faint, but grows stronger as it dries. refreshing, clean, pretty.