Song to Celia & Celia's Reply

Who is Ben Jonson and What is Song to Celia?

Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Jonson

         Benjamin Jonson was an English playwright and poet, whose artistry exerted a lasting impact upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularized the comedy of humors.

      Jonson's "Song: To Celia" is a short monologue in which a lover addresses his lady in an effort to encourage her to express her love for him. Jonson includes conventional imagery, such as eyes, roses, and wine, but employs them in inventive ways. Aa rs esult, the poem becomes a lively, expressive song extolling the immortality of love. John Addington Symonds, in his 1886 study of Jonson, calls the poem a masterpiece in its "purely lyric composition" and individuality. He concludes that Jonson's lyrics "struck the key-note of the seventeenth century."

Song to Celia by 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.

Celia's Reply (Response)

If you only see with thine eyes

Create the pledge, be mine

Leaving the kiss within the cup

Go looking for the wine

Find thy thirst with your soul doth rise

Ask the drink of divine

Might I share thy Jove's nectar sup

Not change thy self for time

Remember thine late rosie wreath

Forgive such honoring thee

Giving hope back, that there

Say to not withered be

Thy know, thy hear the only breath

Show and tell back to me

When it grows, when it smells, you swear

Not only me, but thee