perfume riddle IV

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800px-Franz_von_Stuck_Sphinx

Welcome to the fourth installment of my new feature here on Hortus Conclusus, in which a perfume bottle sings a little riddle, and it’s up to you to guess which bottle of perfume is riddling. Hark! The bottle speaks:

Although I delight in barroom raunch,

I’m not recommended to those with a paunch.

You must be quite lean,

and perhaps somewhat mean,

to wear me; I pack quite a smokey, dark punch.

That is the problem, and also the solution,

but also, my white flowers suffer no dilution!

They swim side by side

with the ciggies so snide,

I’m retro-ironic-- t’was my author’s intention.

Who am I?

CREDITS:

Franz Von Stuck “Sphinx” courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Comments

  1. earthaJuly 11, 2010 at 4:23 AM

    jasmin et cigarette??
    maybe...
    is that *too* obvious?

    ReplyDelete
  2. La Bonne VivanteJuly 11, 2010 at 9:29 AM

    nope, that's it. I am a pretty obvious poet, alas! (LOL!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Katy JosephineJuly 11, 2010 at 11:39 AM

    Your riddles are great! Not too obvious for me...

    Jasmin et Cigarette is lovely but not 'cigaretty' enough on me. I detected a strong hay note (brought back memories of the farm) which I liked but didn't love.

    Hope you're enjoying the weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. La Bonne VivanteJuly 11, 2010 at 12:12 PM

    Yeah, I remember that hay note, though to be honest, it's been a while since I've smelled this. My husband--usually very sweet-- said I smelled like a skanky barroom wench when I wore it, so.....

    I'm trying to class up my life, you see. After all, I'm trying to become a professor, not a barmaid. ;-)

    but I LOOOVVVEEE smokey things!

    ReplyDelete
  5. hotlanta lindaJuly 11, 2010 at 12:54 PM

    I was guessing Tango from Mandy Aftel could work, too - maybe as a more polite sister!

    ReplyDelete
  6. earthaJuly 11, 2010 at 1:54 PM

    i likes these riddles
    your cryptic clues were great its just that my minds dwells in skanky bar rooms most of the time!

    funnily enough the the Lady Nicotiana has narcotic white flowers. Haven't smelt it raw, but its supposed to be heady stuff.

    (btw, your blog is a recent discovery and I *love* it! Been digging in the archives.)

    ReplyDelete
  7. La Bonne VivanteJuly 11, 2010 at 5:34 PM

    Thanks eartha, for your kind words!

    You know, I never made that connection about lady nicotiana--I have smelled those raw, and *whew*!

    I never thought abotu the fact, though, that nicotiana are basically night-flowering white flowers too....


    SO COOL!

    ReplyDelete
  8. La Bonne VivanteJuly 11, 2010 at 5:34 PM

    HOTLANTA LINDA!

    You won the draw, did you know?

    contact me with your info, and I'll send out the discovery set....

    ReplyDelete
  9. DMJuly 12, 2010 at 8:45 PM

    I love the riddle and i LOVE LOVE LOVE this image! such a find!

    ReplyDelete
  10. La Bonne VivanteJuly 13, 2010 at 11:35 AM

    Thanks! That's high praise indeed coming from the famous Hibernian Homme! Thanks so much for dropping by.

    ReplyDelete

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