(Advertisement for my favorite fragrance,
Muguet des Bois or lily of the valley
perfume by Coty, published in 1948)
“And because the breath of flowers is far sweeter in the air (where it comes and goes like the warbling of music), than in the hand, therefore nothing is more fit for that delight than to know what be the flowers and plants that do perfume the air.”
~ Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, essayist, and statesman
IN THE GREEN MORNING, NOW, ONCE MORE
In the green morning, before
Love was destiny,
The sun was king,
And God was famous.
The merry, the musical,
The jolly, the magical,
The feast, the feast of feasts, the festival
Suddenly ended
As the sky descended
But there was only the feeling,
In all the dark falling,
Of fragrance and of freshness, of birth and beginning.
~ Delmore Schwartz (1913-1966), American poet and writer of short stories
Beautiful! I love that Muguet advert and Delmore Schwartz, too.
ReplyDeleteJust your mention of Muguet des Bois set me up to be very affected by the poem. Some of the lines are so striking to me, some images so mysterious, that it caused me to research the poet, with whom I am not familiar. I printed the poem to add to my current "poetry project."
ReplyDeleteWhat a charming ad, too!