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Or, "Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes" A Romance Poem Rendered in English by Ben Jonson From a Love Letter by Philostratus of Athens or Philostratus of Lemnos A Study Guide cummings@cummingsstudyguides.net |
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Study Guide Prepared by Michael J. Cummings...© 2008 Type of Work and Authorship "To Celia" is a lyric love poem. It is one of the most frequently quoted poems in English literature. Undoubtedly, most literate persons are familiar with the opening line, “Drink to me only with thine eyes.” Indeed, many people think of that line as the title of the poem. Ben Jonson (1572-1637), a celebrated playwright and poet of the Shakespearean age, often receives full credit for composing those words, as well as the lines in the rest of the poem; instead, he should receive credit for translating or paraphrasing them. It was a Greek named Philostratus who originated the words in his own language. But which Philostratus? Scholars identify two writers of this name as candidates for authorship. The first was Lucius Flavius Philostratus (AD 170 to 245-8?), a Greek writer sometimes called Philostratus the Athenian. He long received credit for penning the lines in his love letters (Numbers XXIV, XXV, XXX, and XXXI) until some scholars credited his relative, Philostratus of Lemnos (born AD 190), as the likely author. The authorship question has not been resolved. The English rendering of the title is “To Celia,” and many anthologies assign that title to it without further comment. However, Jonson wrote two poems with that title, both of them songs. J. William Hebel and Hoyt H. Hudson identify the poem as “Song, to Celia [2]” in their poetry anthology, Poetry of the English Renaissance: 1509-1660 (New York: Appleton, 1957, page 502). "To Celia" was published in 1616 in a collection entitled The Forest. The theme of "To Celia" is transcendent love. So intense is the poet's feelings for Celia—and hers for him, he hopes—that she need only drink to him with a loving gaze. For his turn, the poet says, he needs no wine to inspirit his love, for it is his soul that thirsts. Only the transcendence of divine love can quench his thirst. The first line has eight syllables (four feet); the second, six syllables (three feet). The rest of the poem follows this pattern: four feet, three feet; four feet, three feet; and so on. In each line (whether eight or six syllables), the first syllable is unstressed, the second is stressed, the third is unstressed, the fourth is stressed, and so on. Thus, the first line below is in iambic tetrameter; the second is in iambic trimeter. (If you need detailed information on meter, click here.) The following example demonstrates the metric scheme of the first two lines. The unstressed syllables are in blue; the stressed are in red capitals. Over each pair of syllables is a number representing the foot. Also, a black vertical line separates the feet. .......1..............2................3..............4
.  The poem consists of two stanzas of eight lines each. There are three sentences: Lines 1 to 4, Lines 5 to 8, and Lines 9 to 16. The first stanza centers on love as an ethereal, insubstantial elixir. The second centers on a wreath sent to Celia by the poet. The rhyming lines are as follows: Lines 1 and 5 (eyes, rise); Lines 2, 4, 6, and 8 (mine, wine, divine, thine), Lines 3 and 7 (cup, sup); Lines 9 and 13 (wreath, breathe), Lines 10, 12, 14, 16 (thee, be, me, thee), and Lines 11 and 15 (there, swear). Notice that the rhyming lines of Stanza 1 match, in order of occurrence, the rhyming lines of Stanza 2. For example, in Stanza 1, eyes at the end of the first line rhymes with rise and the end of the fifth line. In Stanza 2, wreath at the end of the first line (Line 9) rhymes with breathe at the end of the fifth line (Line 13).
To Celia A Romance Poem Rendered in English by Ben Jonson From a Love Letter by Philostratus of Athens or Philostratus of Lemnos Jonson Published the Poem in 1616 1....Drink to me only with
thine eyes, 9....I sent thee late a rosy
wreath, Lines
1-8: The first stanza is a metaphor comparing
love to an ethereal elixir. The poet uses the words
drink, cup, wine, thirst, and nectar
to enhance his trope. Jonson bends the connotation
of sup in line 7. Ordinarily, the word means
to eat the evening meal—that is, to have
solid food for supper.
. Figures of Speech and Allusions Metaphor:
The first stanza is a metaphor comparing love to an
ethereal elixir. (See "Notes and Comments,"
above.)
Study Questions
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