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Samuel Johnson - Written at the Request of a Gentleman to Whom a Lady Had Given a Sprig of Myrtle
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What hopes - what terrors does this gift create?
Ambiguous emblem of uncertain fate.
The myrtle (ensign of supreme command
Consign`d to Venus by Melissa`s hand), 
Not less capricious than a reigning fair,
Oft favours, oft rejects a lover`s prayer.
In myrtle shades despairing ghosts complain:
The myrtle crowns the happy lover`s heads,
The unhappy lovers` graves the myrtle spreads. 
Oh! then the meaning of thy gift impart,
And ease the throbbings of an anxious heart:
Soon must this sprig, as you shall fix its doom,
Adorn Philander`s head, or grace his tomb.
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