Transcript Song: To Celia - reitzmemorial.org

by: Ben Jonson
Liz Schuler, Ja’von Langley, Maria
Miller, and Brigitte Swartwood
Background
-Jonson created a play called Every Man
in His Humor
-Major success, Shakespeare played a role
in the play
-Jonson got into a fight with one of the
actors and killed the man in a dual.
- He became a convicted felon and lost
his property
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.
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Style: Undecided
Tone: Love
Theme: Transcendent love quenches his thirst.
Rhyme: ABCBABCBDEFEDEFE
Rhythm: The syllables alternate between 8
syllable and 6 syllable lines.
Other literary devices:
Metaphor- The first stanza is a metaphor
comparing love to an ethereal elixir.
Alliteration- Kiss, cup; drink divine; rosy
wreath; smell, swear
Personification- The thirst…doth ask.
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Known for his play writes
“To Celia” was published in a collection
entitled The Forest. It was in 1616.
It is a lyric love poem.
One of the most frequently quoted poems in
English literature.
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"To Celia (Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes)."
To Celia (Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes).
N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
McDougal Littell Literature: British Literature.
Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2009.