Tyger Tyger - Francesca Bianchi

The title is the incipit of a masterpiece of poetry, The Tyger by William Blake. 

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night;

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In this composition I have been searching for the perfect balance between two opposite elements, and the expression of their clashing contraposition.

I had in mind a Post-Apocalyptic condition, where traces of a highly sophisticated and refined civilisation survived in the dark and fearful condition of a collapsed and destructured world. 

Blake’s Tyger embodies both qualities I wanted to depict: sublime and irresistibly attractive from one side and terrible and scary from the other one. 

The ‘fearful symmetry’ - a character attributed to the tiger by W Blake - aptly represent this opposition of beautiful perfection and terror.

The perfume is built around an accord of narcotic white flowers with sweet-fruity facets, which includes also an absolute of Tuberose - like a prima donna, the protagonist of a dramatic piece, she’s the finest example of a refined civilisation of a bygone world; in opposition to that, the base notes present different kind of woods, with some burnt and leathery qualities, referring to a post-apocalyptic scenario of destruction, mystery and darkness.

The result of these parts - which wouldn’t work individually - is a clashing, sparkling fragrance which gives me an exciting emotion of highly dramatic sophistication - the kind of contrasted sentiment that anything attractive arouses in me.