Poem by Aphra Behn

The First Cypher

The Smiles, the Graces, and the Sports,
That in the Secret Groves maintain their Courts,
    Are with these Myrtles crown'd:
Thither the Nymphs their Garlands bring;
Their Beauties and their Praises sing,
    While Echoes do the Songs resound.

Love, tho' a God, with Myrtle Wreaths
Does his soft Temples bind;
    More valu'd are those consecrated Leaves,
Than the bright Wealth in Eastern Rocks confin'd:
And Crowns of Glory less Ambition move,
    Than those more sacred Diadems of Love.

1. The Willing Mistriss
2. On the Death of E. Waller, Esq.
3. On the Death of the Late Earl of Rochester
4. Amintas That True-Hearted Swain
5. The Permission

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