Marcia Karp wrote:

> Not Smyrna. Myrrha (Ovid's _Metamorphosis_, X.298-502). (Dryden retells
the
> story in his _Fables Ancient and Modern_.) Your informant is incorrect.

http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/7/0,5716,3817+1,00.html

Adonis in Greek mythology, a youth of remarkable beauty, the favourite
of the goddess Aphrodite. Traditionally, he was the product of the
incestuous love Smyrna (Myrrha) entertained for her own father, the
Syrian king Theias.

> She is metamorphosed into the myrrh tree. You'll find there is no
proposition
> between Cinyras and his daughter, just great sex. He was duped, and
enraged
> and disgusted when he discovered who the girl was with whom he was
cheating on
> his wife.

I only told part of the story.

 > With all due respect, your reading seems to be playing with words,

True. I have no way of knowing though whether TSE was playing with the same
words here or not. I point out the possibility that he could have and a way
that it would work into the poem. I am not sure how much weight to give it
but I do keep it in mind.

> your own words, ignoring Ovid's story.

Remember that Ovid was retelling Greek stories and changing names around.
It wasn't that he wrote an original novel about a woman named Myrrha and I
decided to rename her.

Regards,
   Rick Parker