SONG: TO CELIA BY BEN JONSON

Ben Jonson In 1616 Jonson published the first collected edition of his works. The collection included a number of Jonson's plays as well as a short collection of poems called The Forest. Among the fifteen poems that comprise The Forest are two poems called "Song to Celia" of which the second (titled "IX") is the more famous. Nobody is quite sure who Celia was, but some speculate that she was a fellow poet and close friend of Ben Jonson's named Lady Mary Wroth. Jonson praised her directly in his poem Sonnet to the Noble Lady, the Lady Mary Wroth and indirectly in a poem titled To Penshurst, which celebrates a country estate where she spent a lot of time as a child. Ben Jonson was quite the classicist; he knew Greek and Latin, and he loved to display his intelligence. To Celia is a perfect, if not immediately obvious, example of Jonson's prodigious learning. Large parts of To Celia are loose translations of or close parallels of the love letters of an ancient writer named Philostratus.

Song: To Celia Ben Jonson Drink to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine; Or leave a kiss but in the cup, And I’ll not look for wine. The thirst that from the soul doth rise Doth ask a drink divine; But might I of Jove’s nectar sup, I would not change for thine. I sent thee late a rosy wreath, Not so much honouring thee As giving it a hope, that there It could not withered be. But thou thereon didst only breathe, And sent’st it back to me; Since when it grows, and smells, I swear, Not of itself, but thee.

Poem

Structure Form and Meter ABCBABCB DEFEDEFE Iambic Tetrameter and Iambic Trimeter: poem follows this pattern of four feet, three feet, four feet, three feet, etc. Structure Four stanzas of four lines each Three sentences: lines 1-4, 5-8, and The first two stanzas serve as an analogy of his love an desire through wine and thirst whereas the final stanzas focus on the woman as a divine being and the wreath as a symbol of transcendence of love. The movement shows that the speaker loves Celia idealistically, but she rejects him.

Theme The poem focuses on an unrequited love that does not daunt the speaker’s affection. The reference to mortality focus on the wreath, which thrives after the woman “breathes” upon it.

Drink to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine; Or leave a kiss but in the cup, And I’ll not look for wine. The thirst that from the soul doth rise Doth ask a drink divine; But might I of Jove’s nectar sup, I would not change for thine. The poem begins as a toast celebrating Celia. Allusion to the god’s sustenance, which granted immortality Allusion: Odysseus rejects the necta of the gods after he was offered immortality if he remained with the goddess Calypso. He refused, however, so that he could return to his wife Penelope. This stanza is a metaphor comparing love to an ethereal elixir. Alliteration highlights the value of the kiss and the drink. “Thirst” is personified to show Celia that only her love will keep him alive. The formal language suggests a lack of intimacy between the couple. Allusions show how his love transcends natural boundaries.

I sent thee late a rosy wreath, Not so much honouring thee As giving it a hope, that there It could not withered be. But thou thereon didst only breathe, And sent’st it back to me; Since when it grows, and smells, I swear, Not of itself, but thee. Metaphor reveals how the speaker feels that Celia is greater than natural order. Also, the beautiful scent of the roses cannot match the beauty of his love. Personification of natural objects benefit from his love. Also, all things benefit from being the object of her attention. Note the abundance of sibilance to highlight the speaker’s feelings for Celia. The wreath also serves as a symbol of immortality and the speaker’s hope that their love will grow.

Works Cited celia/ onson.html check.html