To Celia
Drink to me only with thine eyes,And I will pledge with mine;Or leave a kiss but in the cupAnd I’ll not look for wine.The thirst that from the soul doth riseDoth 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 theeAs giving it a hope that thereIt could not wither’d 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!
Words in this poem
- thereon adv.
- On that or this. [AS. . See There, and On.]
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Celia is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ben Jonson, To Celia, in Poems (1573–1637), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-ben-jonson/to-celia.html, id L16006.
Form and metre
To Celia is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABCBABCB eyesA · mineB · cupC · wineB · riseA · divineB · supC · thineB
- 2 -ABA-ABA wreath · theeA · thereB · beA · breathe · meA · swearB · theeA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Drink to me only with thine eyes, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And I will pledge with mine; | 6 | ······ |
| Or leave a kiss but in the cup | 8 | ········ |
| And I’ll not look for wine. | 6 | ······ |
| The thirst that from the soul doth rise | 8 | ········ |
| Doth ask a drink divine; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| But might I of Jove’s nectar sup, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I would not change for thine. | 6 | ······ |
| I sent thee late a rosy wreath, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Not so much honouring thee | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| As giving it a hope that there | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| It could not wither’d be; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But thou thereon didst only breathe, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And sent’st it back to me; | 6 | ······ |
| Since when it grows, and smells, I swear, | 8 | ········ |
| Not of itself but thee! | 6 | ··˘/·· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.