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Poetry · Poem

To Celia

Ben JonsonEnglish RenaissancePoem
SOURCE TEXT · English original
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 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!
Cultural reading

Reading the poem

Love becomes a toast made with the eyes, while a returned rose wreath is imagined to carry the beloved’s breath rather than its own scent.

Language notes

Text and edition

The English text follows the fixed historical witness in The Oxford Book of English Verse; no modern third-party translation is included.