Song To Celia Lyrics
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.
About
In 1616 Ben Jonson published the first collected edition of his works. The collection included a number of Jonson’s plays (he was a contemporary of Shakespeare’s, and relatively well-known playwright at the time) 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. The poem is often referred to by its first line ‘Drink To Me Only’.
The poem describes deep love between the speaker and his love the transcends normal bounds. The dominating idea is of adoration expressed through eyes and looks; an intimate and wordless communication. The speaker, however, is deeply dsappointed in the second stanza.
Structure
The poem comprises two eight lined stanzas wihich follow an ABCB ABCB pattern. The metrical rhythm is broadly that of the ballad, with alternating iambic tetrameters (four iambs or metrical feet per line), alternating with three metrical feet per line. Note that a iamb is one unstressed follwed by one stressed syllable.
Language and Imagery
The voice is that of a first person speaker, using the pronoun ‘I’. The tone is subdued and a little mournful. This is natural as he is rejected in the second stanza, but there is also a pleading tone to the first stanza. A perceptive reader may sense his impending disappointment.
In both stanzas the communication between the speaker and his lover is wordless. In the first, it is in the woman’s eyes that the speaker seeks signs of love. In the second she conveys her rejection by returning the flowers. The speaker tells of his wounded feelings and ongoing love through the metaphor of the wreath, which no longer smells of flowers but of Celia.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning