Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading content…
Loading…
Transcript

Song: To celia

Song: To Celia

Written 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 honoring 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.

Ben Jonson

Symbolism

Imagery & Speaker

  • The whole time he is talking about drinking, there is imagery of how much he loves Celia and how he longs to be with the woman he loves. However, Celia does not love him back and breaks his heart.
  • The speaker is not Jonson but is unknown.
  • In line 7 the speaker mentions Jove's "nectar," the Greek and Roman gods' favorite drink. "Nectar" is a symbol of an earthly or mortal beverage, as opposed to the "drink divine" of Celia's love.
  • In lines 11-12 the speaker sends Celia a wreath in order to see if it will live forever in her presence. The wreath is here a symbol of artistic creation itself.
  • In line 15 the speaker says the wreath continues to "grow," which suggests that it is immortal. This is odd because you can't make a wreath without killing the leaves or flowers it's made of, so the fact that the wreath still grows suggests that the speaker's experiment was successful. The wreath's continued growth is a symbol of immortality and is also meant to symbolize the speaker's hopes for the continued life of his relationship to Celia.
  • A playwright, poet, and literary critic
  • Wrote during the seventeenth century
  • His artistry exerted a long lasting impact on English poetry and stage comedy
  • He is best known for satirical plays such as Every Man in His Humour (1598), Volpone, or The Foxe (1605), The Alchemist (1610), and Bartholomew Fayre: A Comedy (1614).
  • Regarded as the second most important English dramatist after Shakespeare
  • Classically educated, well-read, and cultured man of the English Renaissance
  • Had an appetite for controversy (personal, political, artistic, intellectual)
  • Song: To Celia was published in 1616.

Meter

Metaphors

Consonance

  • The speaker uses drinking and thirst as a metaphor for love and desire.
  • In Line 1 the speaker tells Celia to "drink" to him with her eyes. Eyes don't really drink and "drink" is a metaphor for the action of lifting or pledging with one's eyes.
  • In line 6 the speaker says that the soul requires a "drink divine." He is not literally talking about a "divine" drink but rather a show of love from Celia. "Divine drink" is a metaphor.

The odd-numbered lines are written in iambic tetrameter. This is the first line of the poem. There are slashes between the iambs and the stressed syllables are black.

Drink to | me on | ly with | thine eyes

The even-numbered lines are in a meter called iambic trimeter, which is the same as iambic tetrameter except there are three ("tri," like tricycle) iambs instead of four. Line 2 is an example:

And I | will pledge | with mine.

Jonson supplements the fancifulness of the poem through consonance, which adds an extra bounce of lightness to the poem. For example, the “rosy wreath” in line 9 provides an additional air of weightlessness as the words float across the paper. There is a fanciful, affectionate tone to this poem, but in line 13 there is a tone shift when the speaker begins to discuss the roses and how they smell of Celia. Because of this change in attitude from a feeling of love and closeness to a passionate, devotional attitude, there is a tone shift in line 13, adjusting from affection to adoration.

Rhyme Scheme

Alliteration

Theme

  • Line 5, "The thirst that from the soul doth rise," has the repeating "t" sound in the first three words.
  • Line 6, "Doth ask a drink divine;" has the repeating "d" sound in three words.

"To Celia" rhymes and has the following rhyme scheme: ABCBABCB DEFEDEFE. The first stanza has ABCBABCB.

Drink to me only with thine eyes (A)

And I will pledge with mine; (B)

Or leave a kiss but in the cup, (C)

And I'll not look for wine. (B)

The thirst that from the soul doth rise (A)

Doth ask a drink divine: (B)

But might I of Jove's nectar sup (C)

I would not change for thine. (B)

The A's all rhyme (eyes, rise), the B's rhyme (mine, wine, divine, thine), and the C's rhyme (cup, sup).

  • The first theme is love. The speaker talks about how he doesn't need a real drink but only a cup that has been kissed by the woman he loves. He thinks she is so angelic and special that she can keep a wreath of flowers from withering. It also shows us how love can let us down because Celia returns the wreath.
  • The second theme is spirituality. The speaker talks about the soul and implies that there is something spiritual and divine about love. A show of love from Celia would be a drink divine.
Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi