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.
artimisia –
Just what it says on the tin. The frankincense is enough in the background that this smells like roses and wood. Very pleasant. Medium throw and lasts all day.
thecoffeeslayer –
This is rose all the way through on me. Well, rose and a touch of baby powder?
Lydia –
Totally fantastic! I ordered it hoping for a rose scent that wasn’t too powdery and it absolutely delivered. The frankincense added just enough “depth” to it that it was comfortably far from a flat floral scent, though it was the first thing to fade. Out of the vial, it struck me as much more tart than I would have preferred, but once it came in touch with my skin it mellowed out into a soft, ethereal scent- exactly what I wanted. I will definitely be getting the full size!
Katrina –
This is a wonderful rose. The floral notes are warm, and the incense keeps it from being cloying or too soapy. A personal favourite, will buy again.
xaglow –
I can’t sing this scents parses enough! The rose is strong without being powdery, or overly flowery. Its fresh and exactly what I’ve been looking for in the sea of rose scented perfumes. The frankincense is strongest while wet, almost at the end of the scent. Very lovely, will be buying the larger bottle.
allvirgo –
Smells like a true, fresh rose if a rose could be ‘ripe’ without being green or powdery. I don’t get much frankincense–in fact, on my skin, it smells EXACTLY like good rose turkish delight, without being very sweet.