Song: To Celia is a famous poem by the English playwright and poet Ben Jonson. Jonson is renowned as the author of the stage comedies Volpone (1606), The Alchemist (1610), and Bartholomew Fair (1614), among others. But he is also remembered as an important poet of the period and a scholar whose knowledge of classical authors played a crucial role in his own writing.
“Song: To Celia” is also known by its first line, “Drink to me only with thine eyes.” It was published in Jonson’s collection The Forest in 1616. (Another lyric with the same title was part of Jonson’s play Volpone and was also printed in the same collection.) “Song: To Celia” celebrates love with an elegant tribute to the lady Celia, whom the speaker addresses in a symbolic version of “raising a glass.”
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!
The speaker states his preference for kisses over wine and compares his desire (“thirst”) to the soul’s yearning for a “drink divine.” But he then qualifies this statement, pointing out that he would not change the nectar of Jove (or Jupiter, king of the gods) for his own love’s. The lady’s godlike qualities are so great that he hopes her presence might keep a wreath of roses from withering. And when the wreath is returned, the roses’ scent has been overpowered by her own.
Jonson’s short lyrics display all the qualities of the classical poets he admired: precision, elegance, and refinement. The rhyme scheme is exact but graceful. The iambic rhythm (alternating stressed and unstressed syllables) is smooth and flowing. Jonson’s admiration for classical ideals was well known in his own day. But it was not until the early 1800’s that a scholar discovered the similarity between “Song: To Celia” and the letters of Philostratus, an ancient Greek writer. Jonson’s poem is based on fragments from Philostratus.
Some critics have remarked on Jonson’s free use of other writers’ work. But no one would think to call him simply a translator. He recaptured the spirit of his classical models while also creating exquisite new works of art. Jonson emphasized the importance of craftsmanship in poetry. He claimed that poetic genius could only thrive on the study of other writers. Whatever his sources, his poetry remains undoubtedly his own.
For more information on Jonson, see Jonson, Ben. See also English literature (Jacobean drama).
