I.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Benjamin Jonson (1572-1637)

Benjamin Jonson was an English playwright and poet.

Jonson’s artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He is an

English Stuart dramatist, lyric poet, and literary critic. He is generally regarded as the second

most important English dramatist, after William Shakespeare, during the reign of James I. Jonson

was a classically educated, well-read and cultured man of the English Renaissance with an

appetite for controversy (personal and political, artistic and intellectual) whose cultural influence

was of unparalleled breadth. Jonson’s poetry, like his drama, is informed by his classical

learning. Some of his better-known poems are close translations of Greek or Roman models; all

display the careful attention to form and style that often came naturally to those trained in

classics in the humanist manner.

Jonson was a towering literary figure, and his influence was enormous for he has been described

as ‘One of the most vigorous minds that ever added to the strength of English literature’.[53]

Before the English Civil War, the “Tribe of Ben” touted his importance, and during the

Restoration Jonson’s satirical comedies and his theory and practice of “humour characters”

(which are often misunderstood; see William Congreve’s letters for clarification) was extremely

influential, providing the blueprint for many Restoration comedies. By 1700 Jonson’s status

began to decline. In the Romantic era, Jonson suffered the fate of being unfairly compared and
contrasted to Shakespeare, as the taste for Jonson’s type of satirical comedy decreased. Jonson

was at times greatly appreciated by the Romantics, but overall he was denigrated for not writing

in a Shakespearean vein.Jonson died on or around 16 August 1637, and his funeral was held the

next day. It was attended by ‘all or the greatest part of the nobility then in town’.

II. BACKGROUND OF THE POEM

 ’’Song: To Celia’’, often referred to as ‘’Drink to me only with thine eyes,’’ is a poem that

was written by Ben Jonson. It was first published in 1616 as part of a book by Jonson entitled

The Forest.

 Ben Jonson was prompted to write the song to Celia by his deep admiration and infatuation

for a woman named Celia whose identity remains uncertain.

III. TEXT

SONG TO CELIA

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.

IV. ANALYSIS

“Song: To Celia’’ is a poem about love. The speaker is in love with a woman, and he believes

that she returns those feelings, and he begs her to give him a sign. He sends the woman in the

poem, Celia, flowers, but she returns them. However, the speaker does not see this as a rejection;

he thinks that she breathed onto the flowers for him to enjoy her smell.

However, there is a saying the manifestation changes but the essence remains the same. A

person’s feelings for whom he adores the most remain the same. Likewise, in Jonson’s “Song”

there is a longing for his lady love. In the end, it proved to be unfruitful as the “rosy wreath”,

sent as a gift of love, was returned to the poet.

LINE ANALYSIS
Lines 1–4

The first stanza of this piece begins with the speaker asking that his lover “Drink” to him with

only her “eyes.” These first lines define the emotional depths of their partnership.The speaker

wants his lover to devote herself entirely to him and with her eyes, indulge in him as she would a

drink. The next line describes what it is he will give back to her if she chooses to commit herself

fully. He will “pledge” himself to her with his own eyes. This wordless communication is quite

intimate. The poet is allowing the reader into the world of this speaker. The speaker moves on

from the idea of communicating through glances in the next lines as he tells his lover she is

welcome to “leave a kiss…in the cup.” It is here that he will look for her, knowing full well there

will be no wine to drink. The poet has chosen to connect the indulgence of drink with that of

love. These two acts, ways of being, and emotional states are the same.

Lines 5–8

In the following lines, he states the “thirst” for love which exists within the soul can only be

quenched by a “drink divine.” It is only something like “Jove’s nectar,” or the drink of the gods,

which could sate his thirst. In contrast to this statement, he says that if he could indulge in

“nectar” that he would not change for “thine.” His emotions for his lover would not change.

Additionally, a reader should take note of the fact that the characters in the poem are not well-

defined. The speaker’s emotions are on display but there are no lines devoted to who he is or

who his lover is. This choice allows any type of reader to cast their own experiences onto the

text. One will, ideally, be able to relate to the emotions the couple experiences.

Lines 9–12
In the second stanza the speaker begins by describing how “late,” or later, he sent his lover a

“rosy wreath.” This was an action that was deeply thought through and meaningful to both of

them. In the following lines, he describes why he made the choice to send her this gift and what

he meant by it. The speaker chose the “wreath” as a gift not for his lover’s sake, but for that of

the wreath. He professes his choice stemmed from a desire to give the wreath hope that it “could

not withered be” in her presence.This hyperbolic scenario has a deeply romantic intention. He

wants his lover to see how highly he regards her. It is as if she could stave off death in anything

or anyone around her. She revitalizes everything near her.

Lines 13–16

The speaker’s lover did not react to the wreathe as he expected. She did not keep it as a

monument to their love but instead chose to send it back to him after breathing on it. She did this

intentionally, knowing how he would be impacted by it. When he wreath came back to him, he

smelled it and declared that it did not smell like it did before. It now smelled of “thee,” his lover.

Through these depictions of their love the speaker is hoping to both flatter his lover and improve

their relationship further. ‘Song: to Celia’ is a true love poem that is wholly dedicated to the

promotion and continuation of a relationship.

THEME:

Power and purity of love conveyed through non-verbal communication, specifically through eye

contact. It emphasizes the idea that true love can be experienced and expressed through visual

connection alone without the need for material or physical demonstrations.

CONCLUSION:

A person’s feelings for whom he adores the most remain the same. Likewise, in Jonson’s “Song”

there is a longing for his lady love. In the end, it proved to be unfruitful as the “rosy wreath”,

sent as a gift of love, was returned to the poet.

V. REFERENCES

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44464/song-to-celia-drink-to-me-only-with-thine-eyes

https://study.com/learn/lesson/song-to-celia-ben-jonson-summary-analysis.html

https://poemanalysis.com/ben-jonson/song-to-celia/

Submitted by: Patricia Tamayao & Ma. Leona Bautista

Presentors

Submitted to: Jomel B. Manuel

Professor 1