AGAINST IDLENESS AND MISCHIEF

Moral Hymnody and Nonsense: Lewis Carroll used the Looking Glasses and Rabbit Holes of his fantasy world to mock many contemporary conventions and demonstrate, through nonsense, the strangeness of the human condition. The madness of Wonderland illustrated the absurdities he perceived in the strict, orderly world he lived in.

In the first perfumes of this subseries, our scents parallel the poetic parodies: Lewis Carroll versus Isaac Watts.

How doth the little busy bee Improve each shining hour And gather honey all the day From every opening flower!

How skillfully she builds her cell! How neat she spreads the wax! And labours hard to store it well With the sweet food she makes.

In works of labour or of skill, I would be busy too; For Satan finds some mischief still For idle hands to do.

In books, or work, or healthful play, Let my first years be passed, That I may give for every day Some good account at last.

Pollen-dusted honey, diligent tonka, steadfast chamomile, and goodly hyssop.