Song: To Celia Or “Drink to me only with thine eyes”
In this chapter, I will discuss a popular poem namely “To Celia” by Ben Jonson. This frequently quoted poem was published in 1616 in a collection entitled The Forest. This poem is a beautifully balanced poem of unrequited love. It is a love-lyric poem written by a man pretending to address a woman with whom he is in love, but being rejected. The poem begins with a directive imperative (‘Drink to me’), which of course strongly implicates an addressee. The poem continues consistently with this second-person ‘thou’ address
Most people do not seem to regard the poem as an actual letter of correspondence, but see it as being in the conventional tradition of a public declaration of feeling as a piece of artifice.
The readers who offer a reading of the meaning of the poem focus on its beauty and its simple lyricism. Interestingly this model of Jonson as a lyricist of unequalled clarity causes the critics much consternation over the possibility that some parts of the poem are obscure or ambiguous. The two lines “But might I of Jove’s nectar sup,I would not change for thine seem”, disrupt the tone of the poem, and in fact, say the opposite of what might usually be intended in a love lyric.
Lines 1-8: The first stanza is a metaphor which compares love to an ethereal elixir. To strengthen his trope the poet uses the words drink, cup, wine, thirst, and nectar. In line 7, Jonson twists the connotation of sup. The term generally means drinking or eating at night — that is, providing good food for supper.
Lines 7-8: These lines call to mind Odysseus (Roman name, Ulysses) and his wife, Penelope, at Homer’s Odyssey. When the goddess Calypso offered Odysseus immortality to stay with her on her island, Odysseus refused the offer to return to his homeland to be with his wife. Nectar bestowed immortality on those who were drinking it.
Lines 9-16: The second stanza focuses on the expectation that Celia’s and the poet ‘s love will thrive, like the wreath, which continues to expand and send out fragrance.
Figures of Speech and Allusions
Metaphor: The first stanza is a metaphor comparing love to an ethereal elixir. It is essentially an extended toast of sorts – it begins with the speaker telling Celia to “drink” to him with her eyes and drinking plays a significant role in most part of the poem. The speaker uses drinking and thirst especially as a metaphor of love or desire.
Alliteration: The speaker has used alliterations multiple times in the poem such as kiss, cup; drink, divine; rosy, wreath: thou, thereon; smell, swear.
