Shadowless like Silence

[greenranger]

SHADOWLESS LIKE SILENCE
I saw old Autumn in the misty morn
Stand shadowless like Silence, listening
To silence, for no lonely bird would sing
Into his hollow ear from woods forlorn,
Nor lowly hedge nor solitary thorn;--
Shaking his languid locks all dewy bright
With tangled gossamer that fell by night,
Pearling his coronet of golden corn.

Where are the songs of Summer?--With the sun,
Oping the dusky eyelids of the south,
Till shade and silence waken up as one,
And Morning sings with a warm odorous mouth.
Where are the merry birds?--Away, away,
On panting wings through the inclement skies,
Lest owls should prey
Undazzled at noonday,
And tear with horny beak their lustrous eyes.

Where are the blooms of Summer?--In the west,
Blushing their last to the last sunny hours,
When the mild Eve by sudden Night is prest
Like tearful Proserpine, snatch'd from her flow'rs
To a most gloomy breast.
Where is the pride of Summer,--the green prime,--
The many, many leaves all twinkling?--Three
On the moss'd elm; three on the naked lime
Trembling,--and one upon the old oak-tree!
Where is the Dryad's immortality?--
Gone into mournful cypress and dark yew,
Or wearing the long gloomy Winter through
In the smooth holly's green eternity.

The squirrel gloats on his accomplish'd hoard,
The ants have brimm'd their garners with ripe grain,
And honey bees have stored
The sweets of Summer in their luscious cells;
The swallows all have wing'd across the main;
But here the Autumn melancholy dwells,
And sighs her tearful spells
Amongst the sunless shadows of the plain.
Alone, alone,
Upon a mossy stone,
She sits and reckons up the dead and gone
With the last leaves for a love-rosary,
Whilst all the wither'd world looks drearily,
Like a dim picture of the drowned past
In the hush'd mind's mysterious far away,
Doubtful what ghostly thing will steal the last
Into that distance, gray upon the gray.

O go and sit with her, and be o'ershaded
Under the languid downfall of her hair:
She wears a coronal of flowers faded
Upon her forehead, and a face of care;--
There is enough of wither'd everywhere
To make her bower,--and enough of gloom;
There is enough of sadness to invite,
If only for the rose that died, whose doom
Is Beauty's,--she that with the living bloom
Of conscious cheeks most beautifies the light:
There is enough of sorrowing, and quite
Enough of bitter fruits the earth doth bear,--
Enough of chilly droppings for her bowl;
Enough of fear and shadowy despair,
To frame her cloudy prison for the soul!

Dry leaves and white sandalwood, rock moss, cypress, and dry, lifeless roses.

Imagine, if you will, a garden. Fenced in wood, but untended, as the weather has been too hot. There is no scent of turned earth or the sap of cut stems. There is no dust in the air, as the garden is deserted, except for you and maybe a lizard dozing on a stone in the afternoon's heat.

Imagine an overcast but hot day, and a need for solitude. Sit on a bench in the garden and lean back against the rough cypress trees. Inhale the hot air, and close your eyes. You are alone, the world is silent, and the air is still.

Later, as you rejoin the rushing crowds, you surreptitiously sniff the skin of your hands where you ran them over the rough, hardy greenery. You wear a reminder of the still silence as a airy talisman to carry you through the teeming, chattering night.


****


You might be able to tell that I liked this scent very much.

It starts off as heated bare dry stone, like a rocky path. The wood and the greenery take several minutes to show up. The cypress and sandalwood take over the scent slowly, like the heat seeping into the greenery or the sun passing overhead...


It is lasting very nicely on my skin as well, with the sandalwood and a faint hint of cypress as the last notes hanging on. The roses never showed up, on me, which was fine. I amp roses, though I have found blends where they work on me, and in this I couldn't even tell there were any there. Edited August 26, 2009 by Aerinha

[claudia6913]

In the bottle I get the sweet smell of flowers beginning to decay, dying a slow sweet death to return again.

 

On my skin, I got about 15 minutes worth of sweet decay with a huge heap of freshly raked brown leaves pilled on top. Lovely.

 

Now that it's dry ... I get pure rose which morphed to baby powedered death. Damnit. I'll try it again in a week, but I was really hoping the roses would've just been buried under everything else.

 

Oh how nice, the roses have backed off, though I still get a lingering of baby powder, it hovers over the soft silence of dead plants, brown and dried, sitting and waiting to be covered by the snow.

 

I think I will let this one sit for a bit and come back to it when I'm not so overrun with hormones. If the rose stage would disappear, I'd be in so much love with this scent.

[Kimbernunk]

For me, the sandalwood is dominant throughout.

 

It begins as a rosy sandalwood scent - the roses seem to float on top of the sandalwood and give it a pink, slightly floral quality. This was a brief, albeit lovely phase.

 

Then it has about an hour where the mosses come out and hide the rose. At this point, it's predominantly sandalwood with a mossy, green, ever-so-slightly astringent tone. It smells very dry.

 

Finally, the cypress blends in just a little, tones down the moss, and rounds out the sandalwood. It's overall a very woodsy scent, but not like pencil wood - this is a creamy, soft, very pale wood with hints of the greenery that would once have lived with it.

 

It's soft, close to the skin, tranquil, and gorgeous. This is absolutely a "like skin but way better" type scent. It's like serenity in a bottle - very calming, very soothing.

 

I am absolutely in love, as I thought I would be.

 

As a side note, it strikes me as the early-Autumn cousin of Lines Written Among the Euganean Hills. It's warmer, dryer than Lines, but has something of the calming sandalwood/other wood combo that I adore in Lines.

[topazphoenix]

The sandalwood in Shadowless like Silence is tempered by pale roses and dry forests. This is a very dry scent. Sweet but still dry. It also wants to be ornery and go to baby powder on my skin. I hope a little aging will help smooth out that aspect a bit.

[MeiLin]

In the bottle: Dry sandalwood. Smells a bit like a sauna would smell if it were paneled in sandalwood instead of cedar.

 

Wet: A really pleasant dry sandalwood, with a touch of green (I assume the cypress and rock moss). Coming up quickly, though, is the same dry rose petal note from yesterday's Under the Harvest Moon. So far, yum.

 

Dry: More rose. Now the leaves are up. The sandalwood still holds the scent up, and the green is currently gone.

 

Verdict? Win. We'll see what Sir says. Sandalwood usually doesn't do much for him, but he surprises me. No1 likes it. "That's good!"

[Monster]

Shadowless like Silence...ohhhh how I love you!

 

This smells like the outdoors, like the woods on a slightly chilly early autumn day.

On my skin wet, this is almost all sandalwood with a fresh bite of cypress and an earthy touch of moss. If you've ever pulled moss up from a rock and sniffed it...it's pretty much that all bottled up.

The fresh cypress note makes me think of wind blowing through rustling trees...I'm laying in forest on mossy rocks watching the black outline of the trees against the grey sky.

 

As this dries I'm getting just the barest hint of rose (not much though, just a hint). This pretty much stays the same from top to bottom.

 

LOVE this.

 

 

ETA: Ummm....uhhhh... >< I've been wearing this for a few hours now and it's doing something weird like...smelling like a wet dog on me. So strange. I don't think I can wear this anymore :'( That's the strangest morphing/bad body chemistry experience I've ever had. Oh well. It smells nice in the vial.

Edited September 18, 2009 by Monster

[edenssixthday]

Shadowless Like Silence - This is a very dry-leafy scent, with a twist of decay. It's woodsy, too. I think it's very gender-neutral. The throw is low and the staying power is about average on me.

[angelicruin]

Wet on the skin, I'm getting wood and almost a molasses note.

 

Sweet and sometimes borders on turning into baby powder note of death.

 

Definitely reminds me of Fall.

 

 

[crebbsgirl]

This smells like smoky fall if that makes sense? Actually, on me this is very reminiscent of Smoky Moon. There is a bit of a green element while in the wet stages, but it disappears in the drydown. The sandalwood does stay predominant throughout the wear time. It's nice, and wears close to the skin, but I prefer Smoky Moon.

[Little Bird]

In the bottle, this smells soft, light, and almost nonexistent. I get a hint of powdery sandalwood and not much else.

 

On my skin at first, it's a faint, lightly powdery sandalwood. My skin chemistry amps up rose notes like crazy, but I don't smell any roses here. It's very odd. You know how some unscented creams or lotions actually have a faint, creamy, lotion-y smell just from the ingredients in them? That's what this smells like. It has a smell, but it's like it's not a perfume smell or even supposed to be fragranced. I also think it smells a bit like clay.

 

Fifteen minutes into the drydown, ah, there's the rose. It still smells lotion-y or clay-like, but with a hint of very soft, creamy rose. It makes me think of a very delicate hand lotion with rose in it. It's delicate, light baby pink, and pretty, but barely there on me.

[lothien]

This is really lovely. My first impression is that it reminds me of the smell of an clean, well-kept old book with flowers and leaves pressed in its pages.

At first I get soft, dry sandalwood, but after the first few minutes (literally - 3 or 4 minutes) the notes are seamless - I don't get any note that I can pick out. It's gently sweet, probably the rose and the moss, but I don't get either one distinctly - with the caveat that rose is usually well behaved for me, and something I like.

It's a scent that doesn't scream "I'm wearing perfume!" at all - as someone else has said, like skin but better. I don't care for the usual "bedtime" scents with lavender (which I amp, making it not so good for relaxing/sleep) or chamomile (spicy on me and also not relaxing), but this will work awesomely for me for winding-down time, or after a rough day, or any time I need to chill the heck out.

 

So glad that the Fall scents are/were still up so that I can have a bottle of this for my very own. ^^

[thekittenkat]

In the imp: The moss and the cypress are dominant.

 

 

Wet: The dry leaves spring out first, but the roses aren't far behind. And now the sandalwood comes swirling through, then proceeded by the cypress. This is indeed a very dry scent, but the moss and what lingers of the roses gives it that faint touch of sweetness.

 

 

The dry-down: This scent invokes the poem which inspired it in a faint and sad and sorrowful fashion. In the end, it seems to be a bit powdery on me, and how appropriate considering the roses. And that's really okay.

Edited September 29, 2009 by thekittenkat

[moon_lemming]

If I said "grandma's house sandalwood" would you know what I mean? If you don't, I guess "dry leaves and white sandalwood" would work. Shadowless Like Silence stays very close to its description.

[tragedy]

This was the scent I was most interested in the summers end update, and the only one Ive acquired so far... I'm so happy it was this one.

The rose is tempered beneath the moss and cypress.. I love rose, so it wouldnt have bothered me if it was loud and proud, but for this it works so well. I have to concentrate to remember the notes in this one...

"remember its dry leaves and white sandalwood, rock moss, cypress, and dry, lifeless roses."

Because my silly brain just screams out

"FRANKINCENSE AND ROSES YAY!!!"

Thats what it smells like to me, and it is so lovely and evokes the spirit of the poem so well.

[Schmoozy]

 

 

I can't begin to express how beautiful and haunting this scent is for me. It is all sandalwood & cypress with touches of moss thrown in. There is the presence of dryness in the blend and then the barest hint of rose appears. This is soft, woodsy, and really, really good.

[Frolic]

I haven't even done a skin test yet but I need to write my initial bottle sniff impression down.

 

It's Sacrifices sad little sister! She's gone of to a corner of the garden at the farm and started crying.

 

Ok back when I have skin to test it on.

[aquazoo]

Starts a bit harsh. It's definitely dry. After a few minutes it warms up. Still powdery, but a pretty scent.

 

[Invidiana]

Smelling this put in me on a backyard of sun-singed grass with lawn chairs askew and an abandoned pool with gold and orange leaves just starting to collect on the surface. It's the dry aftermath of summer absorbing the last amber rays of sunlight before they disappear below the horizon. A gorgeous and poignant blend.

[MCS4096]

A lot of moss in the bottle, and extremely dry (to crumbling) roses. The sandalwood comes out more and more as it dries. Its SO dry! Its truly dry leaves and bark. Smells like when I lay on my mom's porch, trying to soak up the last of the sun on a hot summer day. There's a cool breeze starting up but the wood is still warm and with my face against it I can smell it.

[Dark Alice]

Wet: Ashen...and cologney.

 

Drydown: Dry listless roses mixed with a hint of leaves. I like it...and definitely think that my decant will suit my needs.

[zankoku_zen]

Claylike sandalwood. It smells dank, damp and a bit powdery.

 

Meh.

[rayvn1]

Dry, dusty cologne-ish with a dark rose scent lurking in the background. I don't know how often I would wear this, but I think I like it best of the summer roses.

 

eta: I let it age a few months and the sandalwood really comes out now! A much more masculine scent with a hint of dark rose swirling in its depths.

Edited January 19, 2010 by rayvn1

[fairnymph]

Light yellow oil, slightly beigeish or maybe greenish? Very dry and woody. Definitely dry leaves and the harshly dry sort of sandalwood, along with CEDAR. I get the sour rose note that I don't associate with rose, from The Miller's Daughter. Dry and sour, ugh.

 

Very similar, with perhaps the rose a bit stronger and more floral, less just sour. Definitely some cypress now, clearly, which I realise was melding with the rose before - it's a sour woody/piney note now. A hint of dusty earthineess, I'd guess from the moss which reminds me a little of Spanish moss. Still extremely dry and extremely sour - I don't know who could wear this, but I certainly can't imagine a woman doing so.

 

Much of the sourness dies, thankfully, and this sweetens a little, becoming almost a tad musky, from the sandalwood. Still, it and the ceadr and leaves are too harshly dry for me. The roses smell more like actual roses, and now more like they are dried, but are still a bit sour and still not the type of rose note I like.

 

CEDAR, dry woods and musty moss with faint sour rose and cypress. Low throw but good longevity. Not my thing at all.

 

[ralenth]

Source: Lab bottle.

 

In Bottle: Warm, crumbling sandalwood, slightly sweetened.

 

Wet: Hot and gritty, woodsy musk.

 

Drydown: Powdery overtones begin to emerge and a strange sourness that I had not anticipated.

 

Dry: Baby powder laced vomit. I have never encountered this sort of reaction to a skin test before. Wow.

 

Overall: Definitely a skin chemistry failure for me.

[Vega]

Sniffed: Earthy, dark roses. A dying, shadowy scent, dimly lit by distant light.

 

On skin: Deep and rounded, warm and cozy. Quite earthy, with a hint of decay from the dry leaves and perhaps moss. The rose emerges during the drydown, adding floral sweetness and lightness to the scent. The rose morphs in and out over the earthy base, sometimes dominating, sometimes fading away. This is a fascinating scent. On one skin test, I had a vivid image of a forest of tall, ancient trees, mostly cast in velvety shadow, brightened by beams of golden sunlight filtering through the canopy. Leaves and rose petals were fluttering to the ground, and all was still and dreaming in late summer sleep. Totally fits its name and Thomas Hood's poem. It's somewhat similar to The Last Rose of Summer, which is earthy but lighter and not so dry-leaves decayish.

 

Verdict: Shadowless Like Silence smells exactly as I imagined it would. This is a dry leaves/dirt blend that I actually find tolerable, and actually pretty! I don't see myself wearing it much, but I'm very glad I got to try such an evocative blend. Once again, kudos to Beth and the Lab for capturing poetry in scent!

Edited August 21, 2010 by Vega