Song: To Celia

Although Ben Jonson is best known for his plays, his

poetry had a significant impact on seventeenth-
Ben Jonson
century poets and has come to be as highly regarded
as that of his contemporary William Shakespeare. Ed- 1616
mund Gosse, in The Jacobean Poets, concludes that
Jonson was “rewarded by the passionate devotion of
a tribe of wits and scholars . . . and he enjoys the
perennial respect of all close students of poetry.” Jon-
son’s lyric ballad “Song: To Celia” is his most beloved
and anthologized poem. Soon after its publication, it
was put to music by an anonymous composer, after
which it became a popular song in public houses.
“Song: To Celia” was included in the book The For-
est, published in 1616. It appears in the sixth edition
of The Norton Anthology of English Literature (1993).
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. As
a result, 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.”

Author Biography
Ben Jonson was born in London during the reign
of Queen Elizabeth, sometime between May 1572

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lenient court, which sentenced him to imprison-

ment. During his incarceration, he asserted his in-
dependence in the predominantly Protestant era by
converting to Catholicism, influenced by a priest
who used to visit him in prison. Soon after his re-
lease that year, Jonson saw his first play performed
at the Globe Theatre. Every Man in His Humour
included William Shakespeare in its cast and was
responsible for making Jonson a celebrity. His next
plays were satirical comedies: Every Man out of
His Humour (1599) and Cynthia’s Revels (1600).
He soon followed with the comedy The Poetaster,
which satirized the works of his fellow playwrights
Thomas Dekker and John Marston. They recipro-
cated with a play called Satiromastix that attacked
Jonson and his work.
Jonson again came under attack, this time for
his plays Sejanus, His Fall (1603) and Eastward
Ho! (1605), which the Privy Council deemed trea-
sonous. Ironically, in 1605, Jonson was appointed
Court Poet. During this time he wrote The Al-
chemist (1610) and Bartholomew Fair (1614), two
Ben Jonson © Bettmann/Corbis of his most successful comedies. Jonson then be-
came the nation’s unofficial poet laureate in 1616.
That same year, The Forest, a book of his poems
including “Song: To Celia” and “To Heaven,” was
published. His esteem and influence at court were
and January 1573. His father, a clergyman, died reinforced when he received an honorary master’s
one month before he was born. Two years after his degree from Oxford University in 1620. Jonson
birth, his mother married a bricklayer. Jonson at- was considered for a knighthood and was nomi-
tended Saint Martin’s parish school and, later, nated to become the Master of the Revels, which
Westminster School, where he was influenced by would have made him supervisor of dramatists and
a teacher named William Camden, who taught him their manuscripts, but he died in 1637, before he
the classics. In 1589, Jonson left Westminster to could assume the post. He was buried at West-
work as a bricklayer with his stepfather, but his minster Abbey. The tombstone slab reads, “O rare
bricklaying career was short-lived. Jonson entered Ben Jonson,” an appropriate epigraph for one of
the army briefly and then joined a theater company the major dramatists and poets of the seventeenth
run by Philip Henslowe, a theatrical entrepreneur. century.
In 1594, he married Anne Lewis, with whom he
had at least two children.
Jonson was able to support himself and his
growing family through his dual career as an actor
Poem Text
and a writer. His work, however, would frequently Drink to me only with thine eyes,
cause him problems. He was first arrested for co- And I will pledge with mine:
authoring and acting in a satire called The Isle of Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
Dogs in 1597. The Privy Council considered it to And I’ll not look for wine.
be lewd, seditious, and slanderous and ordered The thirst that from the soul doth rise 5
Doth ask a drink divine
London theaters to ban the play. It was subse- But might I of Jove’s nectar sup,
quently destroyed. I would not change for thine.
I sent thee late a rosy wreath,
In 1598, Jonson killed Gabriel Spencer, an ac-
Not so much honoring thee, 10
tor, in a duel and was arrested for the murder. Jon- As giving hope that there
son escaped hanging by proving that he could read It could not withered be
and write; this allowed him to be tried in a more But thou thereto didst only breathe

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And sent it back to me; Lines 5–8

Since when it grows and smells, I swear, 15
The next four lines extend the metaphor set up
Not of itself, but thee.
in the first four lines. The speaker insists that if his
lady would leave a kiss for him in the cup, he would
prize it more than nectar from the gods. He claims
that his soul “thirsts” for love and that only “a drink
Poem Summary divine” that transcends even Jove’s nectar can
quench it. “Jove” refers to the god Jupiter, lord of
Lines 1–4
the classical gods and a recurrent symbol of divin-
The speaker in “Song: To Celia” opens with a
ity in secular poetry. The gods drank a heavenly
plea for his lady to express her love by gazing upon
nectar far finer than any wine mortals drank.
him. His plea is assertive, in the form of a com-
mand to drink to him with her eyes. He wants more According to Marshall Van Deusen, writing in
than an expression of her love, however; he wants “Criticism and Ben Jonson’s ‘To Celia,’” in the
a pledge. He notes this in the second line when he book Essays in Criticism and citing the Oxford
declares that he will return the pledge with his own English Dictionary definition, the word “change”
eyes. The reference to the cup that is commonly in line 8 means “to make an exchange.” Here the
filled with wine becomes an apt metaphor for speaker is saying that he would not take Jove’s nec-
what he is asking from his lady. One usually makes tar in exchange for that of his lady. By insisting
a toast, a pledge of some sort, when first sipping a that he values his lady’s kiss more than the nectar
cup of wine. The speaker wants his lady to of the gods, he elevates her to, or higher than, the
make a pledge to him with her eyes rather than status of a goddess. This type of extreme compli-
while drinking from a cup of wine. This pledge ment is defined as “hyperbole.”
would be more personal and so more meaningful There has been some disagreement on the
to him. meaning of lines 7 and 8. The popular interpreta-
By suggesting that his lady could convey such tion is the one provided in the previous paragraph.
a pledge through her gaze, he pays tribute to her ex- Some scholars, however, insist that a literal inter-
pressive eyes. He suggests that their connection is pretation of the lines is that the speaker would not
so intimate that they do not need the words of a give up Jove’s nectar for his lady’s kiss.
speech to communicate their feelings for each other. Van Deusen also notes in his essay that one of
This act reflects medieval love conventions, which the two quotations given as illustration of the def-
propose that love is received through the eyes. inition of “change” in the Oxford English Dictio-
When the speaker gives his lady an alternative nary could suggest by analogy that the lines mean
way to express her love, he suggests that she may “if I were to have the chance offered me to sup of
be reluctant to do so. Leaving a kiss in the cup Jove’s nectar, and if your wine were also available,
would allow her to respond to him in a more mod- I would not change for . . . yours.” Van Deusen
est manner. This alternative, he states, would be points out that defenders of this interpretation cite
just as pleasing to him. When he insists that he Jonson’s “antipathy to hyperbole” and argue that
will “not look for wine,” he implies that her kiss the lines are complimentary “precisely because
will intoxicate him more than any alcohol could. they set the exact limits of legitimate praise and
Wine would be an inadequate replacement for avoid irresponsible exaggeration.” Van Deusen
her love. comments, however, that Jonson has elsewhere
used hyperbole. He also cites the source of the
Jonson smoothly integrates the images of
poem, letters from the philosopher Philostratos, in
eyes, drinking, and wine in these first lines, which
support of the popular interpretation, translating the
reinforces and heightens his speaker’s expression
corresponding passage from Philostratos to “when
of love and longing. Initially, the metaphor of
I am thirsty, I refuse the cup, and take thee.”
drinking with one’s eyes seems too forced, yet
eyes produce liquid and can “brim over” with
tears of sadness or joy. This liquidity, rather than Lines 9–12
that of wine, becomes the speaker’s preferred In line 9, the speaker notes that he recently
method of demonstration. The image of the kiss (“late”) sent his lady a wreath of roses, a flower
also integrates smoothly with the others. “Kisses traditionally associated with beauty. Jonson uses
sweeter than wine” has become a standard expres- the rosy wreath, however, in an unconventional
sion of love. way. The speaker admits that his primary motive

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Topics
For Further
Study
• Read one of Shakespeare’s sonnets. Compare • Many poems of the Elizabethan era have a clear
the sonnet’s theme and structure to those of rhythm that would make them easy to set to mu-
“Song: To Celia.” sic. How do you think Jonson’s poem would
sound put to music? Do you think it would be
• Investigate the development of the ballad. How
fast or slow? Try reciting Jonson’s poem to mu-
does the poem “Song: To Celia” follow the con-
sic you hear on the radio, such as pop, rock, jazz,
ventions of the ballad form?
or hip-hop. What musical category do you think
• Read Jonson’s Volpone, focusing on the char- best suits this poem? Explain why. What in-
acter of Celia. Do you see parallels between the struments were popular during the Elizabethan
Celia in the play and the Celia in the poem? era? Which Elizabethan instruments do you
What are the similarities or differences in the think would work best to accompany Jonson’s
two characters named Celia? poem if it were set to music?

for sending it was not to honor her beauty, as any the wreath. Even if he does not have her physical
lover would with red roses, but for another purpose, presence, he has her essence, which has been trans-
which reflects her more intense charms. He does ferred to the wreath.
not discount her beauty, noting that he is sending the
wreath “not so much” for her honor, but insists that
he has a greater purpose. When he claims that
the wreath would not wither in his lady’s presence,
he suggests her power over it.
Themes
Courtly Love
Lines 13–16 Jonson borrowed the conventions of courtly
The last four lines of the poem focus on this love for the poem but manipulated them to create
power and his lady’s active connection with nature. his unique voice. Traditionally, the lover in these
Traditionally in love lyrics, the lady’s breath is al- poems is stricken by his lady’s beauty, which
ways perfumed. When the speaker swears that his causes him to idealize her. Ever obedient to her
lady’s breath transformed the wreath, he claims that wishes, the humble lover strives to be worthy of
her perfume transcended the perfume of the rose. her. His feelings of love ennoble him and lead him
Her power does not stop there. She also gives the on the path to moral excellence.
gift of immortality to the wreath, which continues
to grow and produce a pleasing scent. Jonson expresses the cult of the beloved in his
poem through his vision of the lady whose kisses
The imagery here not only illustrates the en- are sweeter than the nectar of the gods and whose
durance of love but also suggests the fertility of the breath can grant immortality. Yet this speaker does
lady. If readers combine the images of the first not humble himself to his mistress. He has a calm
stanza with the second, they see the speaker’s lady assurance not found in conventional courtly love po-
become a fertility goddess, whose divine charms ems. In the first stanza, he subtly acknowledges that
convey immortality as she affects and becomes a his lady might be reluctant to express her love for
part of the objects around her. him when he suggests that she leave a kiss in the
By continuing undaunted toward his goal, the cup. Traditional lovers would prostrate themselves
speaker cleverly sidesteps the suggestion that his at their lady’s feet, but Jonson’s speaker calmly pro-
lady is rejecting his offers of love when she returns vides an alternative to drinking to him with her eyes.

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In the second stanza the speaker alludes to the between the speaker and his mistress through exam-
lady’s rejection of his tokens of love when he notes ples of consonance, the repetition of final consonant
that she sent the rosy wreath back to him. Tradi- sounds, as well as word placement. He ends lines 2,
tionally, the ladies in courtly love lyrics appear 4, 6, and 8 with the words “mine,” “wine,” “divine,”
immune to their lovers’ terms of endearment. and “thine,” respectively, suggesting that the union of
Jonson uses the traditional hyperbolic Petrarchan the two would be more divine than wine. The place-
conceit—an elaborate, especially clever metaphor ment of these rhyming words at the ends of the lines
used to idolize a lady while lamenting her cruelty reinforces his point.
or indifference—in an innovative way. (Petrarch
was a prominent Italian poet of the fourteenth cen- Language
tury whose sonnet, with its distinctive construction The poem’s popularity is most likely due to its
and themes, became an important poetic model.) use of simple, direct language that is not difficult
Jonson’s speaker refuses to recognize the lady’s in- for the reader to understand. Robert C. Evans, in
difference as he offers her signs of his love. his article on Jonson for the Dictionary of Literary
Biography, concludes that Jonson’s “‘plain style’
Power was neither artless nor utterly clear” and that it
This refusal alters the balance of power in the avoids the extremes of “sublimity and vulgarity.”
poem. In courtly love poems, the lady retains power Evans argues that Jonson’s style was “meant to
over the speaker, who succumbs to her great communicate, to have an effect, and it gives his
beauty. He continually pays tribute to this beauty poetry a directness, practicality, seriousness, and
through the use of hyperbole. Jonson’s speaker also force that loftier, lower, or more complicated phras-
uses this device as he praises his lady, but he does ing would obscure.”
not flatter her physical attributes. He finds instead These qualities are clearly displayed in “Song:
a potent essence within her that transfers kisses into To Celia” in that the lyrics appear more like rhymed
wine and transfers immortality to a rosy wreath. prose than poetry. The speaker focuses on actions
The last four lines of the poem focus on this power rather than elaborate metaphors as he describes his
and the lady’s active connection with nature. love for his lady. He does not effusively describe
While the speaker acknowledges this force any distinguishing characteristics about his lady’s
within his lady, he refuses to grant her complete eyes, for example, or her kisses or her breath. He
control over him. He admits that his thirst for her concentrates instead on what his response would be
would be quenched by drinking her kisses, but he to her pledges to him. This plain language of love
will not openly acknowledge her seeming indiffer- contrasts to the elaborate conceits of John Donne’s
ence to him. He maintains his calm composure when poetry as in his poem “A Valediction: Forbidding
she returns the wreath to him and cleverly turns her Mourning.” Here, the speaker describes himself
action into a compliment, noting that the wreath and his love’s souls as “stiff twin compasses”: “Thy
continues to grow and that he can smell her essence soul, the fixed foot, makes no show / To move, but
on it. Jonson’s speaker shows no signs that he con- doth, if th’ other do.”
siders himself to be her inferior as he tries to find
alternate ways for her to express her love for him.

Historical Context
Style The Seventeenth-Century Court
The dominant forms of literature during the
Sound Elizabethan age and under James I and Charles I,
Repetition of sounds in a poem can emphasize the first two Stuart kings, were courtly. The litera-
key words and images and so create poetic structure. ture read by the courtiers—members of the court
In addition, sounds can provide pleasure. Jonson uses and those who frequented it—were the sonnet se-
alliteration, the repetition of initial consonant sounds, quence (a lyric poem of fourteen rhyming lines of
in line 6 in the words “drink” and “divine” to em- equal length), as illustrated in Shakespeare’s son-
phasize the value the speaker places on his mistress’s nets; the pastoral romance (which celebrates an
kiss. He repeats this technique in line 9 with the words idolized vision of love), as in Sir Philip Sidney’s
“rosy” and “wreath,” which highlights her connection Arcadia; the chivalric epic (a long poem present-
with nature. Jonson makes a clever connection ing an idealized code of behavior), as in Edmund

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Compare
&
Contrast
• 1600s: Men who wanted to gain the affection of • 1600s: While the Church of England was the
their lovers would sing them lyrics written by dominant religious body in Britain, poets often
poets like Jonson and Campion. evoked Greek and Roman gods in their poetry,
as Jonson does when his speaker compares his
Today: Valentine’s Day has made fortunes for
lady’s kisses to Jove’s nectar.
companies like Hallmark, since the preferred to-
ken of affection has become a card, often con- Today: Most modern poetry is secular, or
taining a verse that expresses an artificial worldly, reflecting the gradual decline of the in-
sentiment. fluence of religion on the arts. Religious groups,
however, are becoming more politically active
• 1600s: Love sonnets and songs had distinctive
as the country is split between conservative and
styles and forms that employed measured
liberal sensibilities.
rhythm and rhyme schemes.
Today: Modern poetry is often characterized by
its free verse and unregulated style.

Spenser’s Faerie Queene; the sermon; and the context; and a yearning for a closer relationship with
masque (a spectacular performance that combines God, expressed as devotional piety. Honor became
drama, music, and dance), as in Jonson’s “Pleasure the paramount principle that governed the works.
Reconciled to Vertue.” Authors like Jonson wrote
almost exclusively for the court, since that is where Seventeenth-Century Poetry
they received their patronage and acclaim. One of the most significant events of the sev-
The literature of the age reflected the distinc- enteenth century was the Puritan Revolution of
tive values of court society. Literary works centered 1640–1660. The Puritans criticized literary works
on the promotion of a hierarchical order, which ne- that did not address religious themes and that ex-
cessitated allegiance to the Church of England and pressed too much emotion. None of the literature
the monarch. Robert M. Adams, in his overview of the age, with the exception of works by John
of the age, notes that the Elizabethan monarchy and Milton, expressed evident sympathy with Puritan
the Church gained such elevated and powerful doctrine, which began to emerge in the decades be-
status owing to the firm belief in “the inevitable fore the revolution. Yet a challenge to tradition and
structure of things, the natural pattern of the world.” a desire for social and political change began to ap-
This hierarchical form focused on the great chain pear, reflecting the revolutionary spirit of the age.
of being, Adams concludes, where “every creature Two distinct poetic groups formed during this pe-
had his place in the great order of divine appoint- riod: the metaphysical poets led by Donne, includ-
ments; and the different families of being were ing George Herbert, Richard Crashaw, Henry
bound together by a chain of universal analogy.” Vaughan, Abraham Cowley, and John Cleveland,
These values, which were carried over into the and Jonson and “Ben’s Sons,” the Cavalier poets
reign of James I, promoted literature that was intri- Thomas Carew, Robert Herrick, Sir John Suckling,
cate, ornate, and allusive (making reference to im- Edmund Waller, and Sir William Davenant. Al-
portant events, literature, or people). Favored subjects though some crossover occurred, these two school
included the heroic passions: love, which may or may were defined by distinct characteristics.
not be accompanied by marriage; aggression, which According to J. A. Cuddon in his Dictio-
often led to a war that lacked a specific political nary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, the

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metaphysical poets, who wrote deeply intellectual that is intended to be sung or chanted, with or with-
and philosophical poems, incorporated striking and out musical accompaniment. The form became
“original images and conceits . . ., wit, ingenuity, popular in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
dexterous use of colloquial speech, [and] con- along with its two most famous composers, Thomas
siderable flexibility of rhythm and meter.” Their Campion (“There is a Garden in Her Face”) and
“complex themes (both sacred and profane)” were John Dowland (“Weep you no more, sad foun-
conveyed through “a liking for paradox [contra- tains”). In the seventeenth century, the poets Her-
dictions] . . . a direct manner, a caustic [biting] hu- rick, Richard Lovelace, Jonson, Milton, and
mour, a keenly felt awareness of mortality . . . and Dryden wrote highly acclaimed songs in plays and
. . . compact expression.” masques and as nondramatic verse.
In contrast, Jonson and the Cavalier poets al- Jonson focused more than his predecessors on
tered the traditional sonnet form, creating works the value of rhyme in his lyric verses, highlighting
that employed direct, often colloquial, or everyday, a sense of proportion and structural beauty. His
language. The term “Cavalier” comes from these songs showed classical restraint and conciseness of
poets’ rejection of earnestness or intensity. These style in their rejection of extravagance and man-
poets continued to promote the ideal of the Re- nerism (the excessive use of a distinctive style).
naissance man—lover, wit, soldier, poet—but ig- Jonson’s “sons” carried on the style of his songs,
nored traditional religious themes. Robert C. as seen in the lyrics of Herrick and Carew, as well
Evans, in his article on Jonson for the Dictionary as in those by William Cartwright, Thomas Ran-
of Literary Biography, writes of Jonson’s influence dolph, and Waller. The orderly structure and grace
on this school of poetry. Evans notes that Jonson’s of their lyrics were reinforced by their substitution
“‘plain style’ made him a crucial figure in a cen- of the language of courtly gallantry for the Petrar-
tral tradition, but his deceptively complex works chan language of prostrate adoration.
reward close reading.” Evans deems Jonson’s work
to be “sophisticated, self-conscious, and strongly
influenced by the Greek and Roman classics,” yet
it “nonetheless rarely seems foreign or artificial.
His vigorous and colloquial style exemplifies both Critical Overview
wide reading and a deep interest in ‘reality.’”
When The Forest, containing “Song: To Celia,”
The sonnet, the most popular poetic form at was published in 1616, it affirmed Jonson’s posi-
the close of the Elizabethan age and the beginning tion as one of the court’s most distinguished poets.
of the Jacobean age (early 1600s), faded from view That same year, Jonson was appointed poet laure-
in the latter half of the seventeenth century. Blank ate of England. In addition, his nearly two decades
verse (unrhymed verse) was replaced by the cou- of celebrated writing were capped that year with
plet (a pair of rhyming verse lines), which provided the appearance of his massive folio Workes, a fit-
a skillful meter for the expression of alternate ting testimony to his illustrious reputation and his
points of view, a popular technique in John Dry- marked influence on other poets of the age.
den’s work. By the end of the century, satiric po-
etry, which ridicules vices, follies, and abuses, “Song: To Celia,” Jonson’s favorite of all of
came into vogue. The poetic satirist’s favorite form his lyrics, quickly became his most admired poem.
was the closed or heroic couplet, a verse couplet It was put to music later in the century by an anony-
that comes to a strong conclusion. The latter form mous composer, after which it became a popular
was developed by Sir John Denham and Edmund song in public houses. The poem has continued to
Waller and perfected by Andrew Marvell, Dryden, enjoy a reputation as one of Jonson’s finest lyrics.
and Alexander Pope. Dryden emerged as the reign- John Addington Symonds, in his 1886 study
ing satirist of the age with the publication of Ab- of Jonson, argues that the poem, one of five by Jon-
salom and Achitophel in 1681, The Medal in 1682, son that he names, is a masterpiece “in purely lyric
Mac Flecknoe in 1682, and The Hind and the Pan- composition” and has “a quality which is definite
ther in 1687. and individual. No one before him wrote pieces of
the sort so terse, so marked by dominant intelli-
Seventeenth-Century Song gence, so aptly fitted for their purpose.” He con-
Some poems, such as William Blake’s Songs cludes that, along with those of Shakespeare,
of Innocence, are called songs even though they are Jonson’s lyrics “struck the key-note of the seven-
not set to music; the term usually refers to a poem teenth century.”

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Claude J. Summers, in his Classic and Cava- borrowed materials is well illustrated in the evolu-
lier: Celebrating Jonson and the Sons of Ben, ad- tion of his poem “Song: To Celia.”
dresses current opinion when he writes that the
In his study of Jonson, John Addington
“recent quickening of critical interest in Jonson’s
Symonds comments that Jonson’s “wholesale and
nondramatic poetry has led to a new appreciation
indiscriminate translation[s]” of other writers’
of his ‘subtle sport’ and to a new willingness to
work was “managed with admirable freedom” as
read him on his own terms.” This appreciation is
Jonson made the work his own. Symonds notes,
echoed by Marchette Chute in Ben Jonson of West-
“This kind of looting from classical treasuries of
minster, who writes, “Song: To Celia” “is an al-
wit and wisdom was accounted no robbery in that
most perfect example of a classical poem,
age” and was, in fact, praised by Jonson’s
achieving the balanced Greek harmony and the lu-
contemporaries. Symonds quotes John Dryden,
cid singing line in which each word fulfills its pur-
who, while admitting that there were “few serious
pose and there is not one too many.”
thoughts which are new” in Jonson’s poetry,
praises the poet’s willingness “to give place to the
classics in all things.” Dryden claims that Jonson
“invades authors like a monarch; and what would
Criticism be theft in other poets is only victory in him.”

Wendy Perkins Bamborough quotes Jonson’s comments on

Perkins is a professor of American and Eng- the assimilation process: those who study “the best
lish literature and film. In this essay, she examines authors” will discover “somewhat of them in them-
Jonson’s craftsmanship and the way he reworked selves, and in the expression of their minds, even
borrowed material in the poem. when they feele it not, be able to utter something
like theirs, which hath an Authoritie above their
In “Jonson’s Poetry, Prose and Criticism,” J. B. owne.” Parfitt concludes that Jonson’s “familiarity
Bamborough writes that while Jonson placed a high with ‘the best authors’ made the dividing line
value on poetry, he regarded it as “essentially an between original and borrowed material disappear
Art, rather than as the expression of personality or stylistically.” In “Song: To Celia,” Jonson crafts a
a way of conveying a unique perception of Truth. poem that “utter[s] something” from one of these
Skill was the quality most inescapably demanded of authors, but he makes it uniquely his own.
the poet.” Bamborough says that Jonson makes this
Scholars have agreed that Jonson used certain
point when he writes “For to Nature, Exercise. Im-
letters of Philostratos, a philosopher of the third
itation, and Studie, Art must be added, to make all
century A.D., as the source material for “Song: To
these perfect.” Jonson’s neoclassical position states
Celia.” Parfitt argues that in the poem, Jonson
that writing well necessitates first mastering the sub-
“takes over the bantering tone of the original and
ject and then examining how other writers have
something of Philostratos’s ingenuity but shows no
expressed it. Thus, according to Bamborough,
sign of subservience to his material.” Jonson re-
“Originality and Inspiration, as the Romantics un-
tains but fine-tunes the classical style of the origi-
derstood them, do not, or need not, enter into this.”
nal, as expressed in the poem’s economy, carefully
Jonson’s policy of studying other writers’ work structured statement, and sense of harmony.
led him to incorporate some of that work into his J. Gwyn Griffiths, in her article on Philostratos’s
own. G. A. E. Parfitt, in “The Nature of Translation letters, cites translations from the excerpts that Jon-
in Ben Jonson’s Poetry,” notes that Jonson’s prac- son borrowed for “Song: To Celia.” The first stanza
tice of borrowing material from other sources and of the poem is a reworking of two letters, numbered
incorporating it into his own work was “not theo- XXXII and XXXIII. In the first letter, Philostratos
retically a departure from ordinary renaissance prin- writes “I, as soon as I see thee, am thirsty, and stand
ciples: it conformed to standard educational doctrine unwilling to drink, though holding the cup; I do not
and, viewed broadly, it is an activity similar to that lift the cup to my lips, but I know that I am drink-
of many other authors of the period.” Parfitt states ing thee.” In the second letter, he writes
that “only in Jonson does the use of classical mater-
Drink to me only with thine eyes, which even Zeus
ial seem a natural and essential aspect of the poet’s
tasted, and then procured for himself a handsome
creativity.” He adds that this use appears “to have be- cup-bearer. Or if thou wilt, do not rashly use up the
come a central habit of his mind when that mind was wine, but pour in some water only, and putting the
at its most creative.” Jonson’s creative reworking of cup to thy lips, fill it with kisses, and so give it to

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the needy. For no one is so unloving as to desire the

gift of Dionysos after the vines of Aphrodite.
Jonson takes the first phrase of the second let-
ter, along with some of the ideas of both, and crafts The second stanza
a self-contained unit in the first stanza of his poem. complements the first with
Here Jonson presents a much clearer and more lyri-
cal depiction of the situation: the speaker’s request its extension of the focus
to his lady that she give him an expression of her on the lady’s extraordinary
love. In the letter, the speaker dilutes his main fo-
cus by including the figures of Zeus, a “handsome” powers.”
cup bearer, Dionysos, and Aphrodite. Jonson in-
stead keeps our attention on the speaker’s request,
which expresses his own feelings for his lady. He
evokes the name of only one god and only in a
passing reference to the god’s nectar, employing it
in its alliteration and structured rhyme scheme. En-
as a clever expression of his lady’s charms.
ergy is generated through the rhythm of the lines
Jonson also establishes a clear structure that is as well as the exactness of the imagery, aided by
absent in the letters. Marshall Van Deusen, in his Jonson’s use of active verbs like “drink,” “rise,”
article on the poem for Essays in Criticism, points “sup,” and “breathe.”
out the logical connection between the statements
The poem’s short length and tight structure
in the first stanza. He notes that “as the lady’s kiss
provide an appropriate venue for intimate thoughts;
in the cup satisfied physical thirst better than wine,
single, simple ideas; and extended metaphors. The
so her nectar should satisfy the thirst of the soul
second stanza complements the first with its ex-
better than Jove’s drink could.”
tension of the focus on the lady’s extraordinary
The relationship between the speaker and thirst powers. In the first, she transforms kisses into nec-
is not made clear in the first letter, when he tar, and, in the second, she transfers her essence to
declares that he becomes thirsty when he sees his a rosy wreath, granting it immortality.
lady. It is also not evident how the essence of the In the second stanza, Jonson translates
lady appears in the cup. The second letter adds some Philostratos’s Letters II and XLVI. In the first let-
clarification, but together the two pieces are dis- ter, the speaker writes, “I have sent thee a wreath
jointed. Jonson elucidates the connection between of roses, not so much honouring thee, though that
lady and cup in the first four lines of the poem and too was my intent, as bestowing a favour upon the
extends the image into the next four, where the roses themselves, that they might not be withered.”
speaker uses it to offer a high compliment to his lady. In the second, he writes, “If thou wouldst gratify
Jonson’s speaker asserts a calm assurance in thy lover, send back the remnants of the roses, no
his monologue to his lady through his sparse, pre- longer smelling of themselves only, but also of
cise imagery and avoidance of elevated language. thee.”
Bamborough places Jonson alongside Sidney and The speaker includes a clumsy contradiction
other writers who insisted on “‘dignifying the ver- in the last line of the second letter when he insists
nacular’ [everyday speech] by ‘purifying’ it, free- that the roses no longer smell of themselves alone
ing it from obscurity, rusticity, clumsiness and but “also” of thee. “Also” should have been “only”
affectation, whether this last took the form of . . . if the intention was to declare that the lady trans-
importation from ancient or modern languages.” formed the roses. Jonson makes that intention clear
Jonson, Bamborough insists, believed that English in his last stanza and reveals how the transforma-
should be “transformed into an expressive and wor- tion is made. The second stanza focuses on the
thy literary language by revealing its true genius, lady’s power over nature, much in the same way
not by divorcing it from the actual speech of men.” that the first suggested her power over her lover.
The poem moves between the abstract and the In the first, she quenches her lover’s “thirst”; in the
concrete, smoothly integrating in the first stanza the second, she grants immortality to the wreath
dominant images of eyes, wine, kisses, and the act through her breath, which is not identified in the
of drinking into an expression of the speaker’s love letter. This more active connection between lady
for his lady. The harmonious interplay of the im- and wreath suggests a heightening of her power; it
agery is reinforced with the musicality of the lyric also adds to the harmonious structure of the lyric.

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An examination of the development of “Song:

To Celia” centers on the poet as craftsman, pro-
viding evidence to support Jonson’s reputation as
a master of his art. In this carefully designed lyric,
Jonson has wedded a classical sensibility with his
unique voice, producing one of the finest love po-
ems of the age.
Source: Wendy Perkins, Critical Essay on “Song: To Celia,”
in Poetry for Students, Thomson Gale, 2006.

G. A. E. Parfitt

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S o n g : T o C e l i a

2 8 0 P o e t r y f o r S t u d e n t s
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V o l u m e 2 3 2 8 1
S o n g : T o C e l i a

2 8 2 P o e t r y f o r S t u d e n t s
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Source: G. A. E. Parfitt, “The Poetry of Ben Jonson,” in Es-

says in Criticism, Vol. 18, No. 1, January 1968, pp. 18–31.

V o l u m e 2 3 2 8 3
S o n g : T o C e l i a

It will be seen that

sometimes Jonson follows
the original very closely.
At the same time he
has transformed it
and fashioned a dainty
lyric.”

J. Gwyn Griffiths

Source: J. Gwyn Griffiths, “A Song from Philostratos,” in

Greece & Rome, Vol. 11, No. 33, May 1942, pp. 135–36.

Sources
Adams, Robert M, “The Seventeenth Century (1603–
1660),” in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol.
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Bamborough, J. B., “Jonson’s Poetry, Prose and Criticism,”
in Ben Jonson, Hutchinson, 1970, pp. 151–76.
Chute, Marchette, Ben Jonson of Westminster, E. P. Dutton,
1965, p. 237.
Cuddon, J. A., “Metaphysical,” in A Dictionary of Literary
Terms and Literary Theory, 3d ed., Blackwell Reference,
1991, pp. 543–45.
Donne, John, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” in The
Norton Anthology of English Literature, 6th ed., edited by
M. H. Abrams, W. W. Norton, 1993, pp. 1069–70.
Evans, Robert C., “Ben Jonson,” in Dictionary of Literary
Biography, Vol. 121: Seventeenth-Century British Nondra-
matic Poets, First Series, edited by M. Thomas Hester, Gale
Research, 1992, pp. 186–212.
Gosse, Edmund, “Ben Jonson—Chapman,” in The Jacobean
Poets, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1894, pp. 23–46.
Griffiths, J. Gwyn, “A Song from Philostratos,” in Greece
and Rome, Vol. 11, No. 23, May 1942, pp. 135–36.
Jonson, Ben, “Song: To Celia,” in The Norton Anthology
of English Literature, 6th ed., edited by M. H. Abrams,
W. W. Norton, 1993, pp. 1225–26.
Parfitt, G. A. E., “The Nature of Translation in Ben Jonson’s
Poetry,” in Studies in English Literature, 1500–1900, Vol.
13, No. 2, Spring 1973, pp. 344–59.

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Summers, Claude J., Classic and Cavalier: Celebrating Jon- In this comparative study, Bentley focuses on the po-
son and the Sons of Ben, University of Pittsburgh Press, etic skills of the two masters.
1982, pp. xi–xvii.
Eckhard, Auberlen, The Commonwealth of Wit: The Writer’s
Symonds, John Addington, Ben Jonson, D. Appleton, 1886. Image and His Strategies of Self-Representation in Eliza-
bethan Literature, Gunter Narr Verlag, 1984.
Van Deusen, Marshall, “Criticism and Ben Jonson’s
This work explores Jonson’s expression of self in his
‘To Celia,’” in Essays in Criticism, Vol. 7, 1957, pp.
works within the context of Elizabethan literature.
95–103.
Levin, Harry, “An Introduction to Ben Jonson,” in Ben Jon-
son: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Jonas A. Bar-
ish, Prentice Hall, 1963, pp. 40–59.
Levin’s introduction exposes some of the notable
Further Reading misunderstandings surrounding Jonson’s work.
Riggs, David, Ben Jonson: A Life, Harvard University Press,
Bentley, Gerald Eades, Shakespeare and Jonson. Their Rep- 1989.
utations in the Seventeenth Century Compared, 2 vols., Uni- Riggs offers a comprehensive look at Jonson and the
versity of Chicago Press, 1945. age in which he wrote.

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