‘Tis said that when
The hands of men
Tamed this primeval wood,
And hoary trees with groans of woe,
Like warriors by an unknown foe,
Were in their strength subdued,
The virgin Earth Gave instant birth
To springs that ne’er did flow
That in the sun Did rivulets run,
And all around rare flowers did blow
The wild rose pale Perfumed the gale
And the queenly lily adown the dale
(Whom the sun and the dew
And the winds did woo),
With the gourd and the grape luxuriant grew.
So when in tears
The love of years
Is wasted like the snow,
And the fine fibrils of its life
By the rude wrong of instant strife
Are broken at a blow
Within the heart
Do springs upstart
Of which it doth now know,
And strange, sweet dreams,
Like silent streams
That from new fountains overflow,
With the earlier tide
Of rivers glide
Deep in the heart whose hope has died —
Quenching the fires its ashes hide, —
Its ashes, whence will spring and grow
Sweet flowers, ere long,
The rare and radiant flowers of song!
A sunlit ancient forest, dotted with wild roses, grape vine, and queenly lilies, clothed in swirls of opium smoke.
carolynawilder –
I made an account just to review this perfume oil. Cockaigne is my go-to scent, but I got this as a sample and just tried it out. This smells like a hug from the popular, pretty girl that everyone loves. I’m about to order a full size bottle because I want this to be my signature scent, I love it that much! It smells sweet and lightly floral. LOOOOVE
Claire –
I’d say this is a very heavy scent. A dark, smoky, honeyed floral. Definitely lives up to what it aspires to be, but a bit too intense for me.
artimisia –
When I fist apply this one it smells wonderful. The honeysuckles plays delightfully against the sweet but musky backdrop. Unfortunately, on me the honeysuckle only sticks around for about fifteen minutes before the opium eats it and I’m left with just the backdrop. After that it’s pleasant enough, but a little one note and uninteresting.
Rebecca –
Anathema is a big, heady floral with a lot of staying power, the kind of thing you might wear to seduce an international super spy. If you love that sort of scent, this is a 5 or 6 star blend. I don’t perceive the vetiver here at all; in fact I was hoping for more smokiness. This is quite gorgeous, just not something I would wear very often, as my life is simply too mundane for this one!
littlejackal –
Vatican is right! This scent reminds me a whole lot of Event Horizon, except a bit sweeter and lighter. Heavy incense made lighter with sweet honeysuckle. That being said, I personally prefer Event Horizon.
etarletons –
My go-to “lady” perfume. I’m not a big fan of floral scents, but I really enjoy this one.
VetchVespers –
Lots of heady honeysuckle in the imp and wet. A woody warmth starts to peak out which I thought be cedar at first. Cedar hates me, so I prepared for the worst, but to my pleasant surprise, the woody smell settled back into an soft brown warmth and made itself known as vetiver. This vetiver is the sweet, lighter kind as opposed to the heavy and charred kind. It plays well with opium to darken and enrich the syrupy sweet honeysuckle. This is more warm resins on me, with a touch of honeysuckle sweetness, than a floral perfume. Well balanced, feminine, and a touch mysterious.
Jodi –
Holy Moly! This is a heady, decadent, floral, dripping with juicy nectar. If you are afraid of vetiver, fear not. This has none of the dirty or smoky overtones of vetiver heavy blends; its only purpose here to nail the fragrance to your skin. It has an almost vicious sillage and powerful tenacity.