While doing a bit of research to understand the inspiration for the new perfume from Etat Libre d’Orange, The Afternoon of a Faun, I did, of course, go to the source, a poem by Stephane Mallarme called “L’Apres-midi d’un Faune.” Along the way, I had a small revelation about translation, and how it impacts not only language, but perfume as well. I found a passage of the poem, the opening phrase, which Etat Libre uses in their presentation materials:

These nymphs I would perpetuate.

So clear

Their light carnation, that it floats in the air

Heavy with tufted slumbers.

Was it a dream I loved?  

(translation by Roger Fry)

 

I couldn’t find the same passage in the translation I had copied from the web, and then realized it was a completely different interpretation:

 

These nymphs, I would perpetuate them.

So bright

Their crimson flesh that hovers there, light

In the air drowsy with dense slumbers.

Did I love a dream?

(translation by A.S. Kline)

 

Just for fun, I asked Google to translate it for me:

These nymphs I would perpetuate.
If clear,
Their light carnation that it floats in the air
Drowsy with tufted slumbers.
I loved a dream?

(translation by Google Translate)

The poem is a paean to sensuality, sexual and hallucinogenic. In my mind, the “crimson flesh” translation may not be literal, but is much sexier than “carnation”. Which made me ponder, how literal do we want our translations of known subjects to be in perfume? When we read the latest press release about a new scent, do we expect it to be a true interpretation? I think by now most of us have learned that marketing materials are mostly whimsy, but in a case like this, where a perfume’s jumping-off place is a known work of art, what do we really expect?

“The Afternoon of a Faun” has been translated into music, by Debussy, and ballet, by several, but most notoriously by the famous Russian dancer Nijinsky. His faun was scandalous, and I would have loved to see it. Now the whole package of poem, music and dance has been interpreted by perfumer Ralf Schweiger (he hinted at this new creation when we interviewed him in March). Before I opened my sample, with its label featuring Nijinsky, I read through the promotional materials, and the poem, and looked at a number of pictures of Nijinsky in his faun costume. I imagined the perfume to be a balance of light and dark, with animalic, lascivious notes being counterpointed by notes of innocent tenderness. That was not quite what I got when I put the perfume on.

 

There is a note (maybe the immortelle), or combination of notes, that I encounter sometimes that reminds me of something I might smell in the kitchen. I always associate it with fenugreek, but since I don’t have any in the house I can’t compare. It is a slightly brothy, herbal aroma, a little sweet, and rather exotic. After a heady, exciting opening, during which I seemed to have an increase in creative energy,  The Afternoon of a Faun settles into a comfortable haze of this smell for several hours. The eventual far drydown may be the nicest part of the life of the perfume, when the leather and moss come forward. The longevity is impressive.

Although I enjoyed wearing Afternoon of a Faun, I never felt like I was wearing a scent of hedonism and sensual pleasures. I was wearing a scent of an afternoon spent at home making art and cooking soup. I found the perfume to have an energizing quality in the beginning that I want to explore further, and I definitely enjoy the perfume as a whole. I just don’t think it lives up to its concept. Maybe others will have different experiences with it; perfume is so unique to each individual, and I encourage everyone to explore it. My soup may be another’s aphrodisiac.

 

No matter! Others will lead me towards happiness

By the horns on my brow knotted with many a tress:

You know, my passion, how ripe and purple already

Every pomegranate bursts, murmuring with the bees:

And our blood, enamoured of what will seize it,

Flows for all the eternal swarm of desire yet.

(translation by A.S. Kline)

 

Notes per Etat Libre d’Orange: Bergamot, pepper, cinnamon, incense, rose, immortal flower [immortelle], orris, jasmine, myrhh of Nambia, moss, leather, benzoin

Thanks to the PR department of Etat Libre d’Orange where I got my sample for testing.

–Tama Blough, Senior Editor