Song to Celia Analysis
- Submitted by: edmarsagun
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- Category: English: Poetic Works
- Date Submitted: 01/13/2016 12:09 AM
- Pages: 18
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SONG TO CELIA ANALYSIS
Drink to me only with thine eyes
And I will pledge with mine (1-2)
The opening lines of the poem have a lot of interesting rhymes. The first vowels of both "eyes" and "mine" rhyme, which suggests that the speaker's and Celia's eyes are somehow connected or identical. Something similar is expressed with the rhyme on "thine" and "mine."
Or leave a kiss within the cup
And I'll not ask for wine (3-4)
The fact that the speaker only needs a kiss suggests he is trading a bodily need (for a drink or beverage) for something more emotional (a kiss, or a sign of love from Celia). This dynamic between mortal and divine, earthly and non-earthly, material and spiritual, dominates this poem in particular, and the collection from which it comes, The Forest, more generally.
Drink to me only with thine eyes, (spirituality)
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss within the cup
And I'll not ask for wine" (1-4)
The first lines of the poem display a preference for the immaterial over the material. The speaker essentially rejects actual liquids in favor of things that satisfy his emotional need; he only needs a glance from Celia, or for her to kiss the cup. It is the meaning of what is conveyed in Celia's gestures that matters, not what's actually in the cup.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine (5-6)
The speaker implies that his love for Celia is like a kind of spiritual "thirst." This suggests that love is like drinking a beverage. Is it just us, or does that not sound too romantic? In fact, it clashes with the poem's attempts to elevate the spiritual (love, the soul) over the material (wine, nectar, etc.).
The thirst that from the soul doth rise (spirituality)
Doth ask a drink divine (5-6)
The speaker suggests that love and desire are like thirsts that must be satisfied; it is as if they are just as important to the functioning of the physical, material body as food and liquid. This implies that physical and...
Drink to me only with thine eyes
And I will pledge with mine (1-2)
The opening lines of the poem have a lot of interesting rhymes. The first vowels of both "eyes" and "mine" rhyme, which suggests that the speaker's and Celia's eyes are somehow connected or identical. Something similar is expressed with the rhyme on "thine" and "mine."
Or leave a kiss within the cup
And I'll not ask for wine (3-4)
The fact that the speaker only needs a kiss suggests he is trading a bodily need (for a drink or beverage) for something more emotional (a kiss, or a sign of love from Celia). This dynamic between mortal and divine, earthly and non-earthly, material and spiritual, dominates this poem in particular, and the collection from which it comes, The Forest, more generally.
Drink to me only with thine eyes, (spirituality)
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss within the cup
And I'll not ask for wine" (1-4)
The first lines of the poem display a preference for the immaterial over the material. The speaker essentially rejects actual liquids in favor of things that satisfy his emotional need; he only needs a glance from Celia, or for her to kiss the cup. It is the meaning of what is conveyed in Celia's gestures that matters, not what's actually in the cup.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine (5-6)
The speaker implies that his love for Celia is like a kind of spiritual "thirst." This suggests that love is like drinking a beverage. Is it just us, or does that not sound too romantic? In fact, it clashes with the poem's attempts to elevate the spiritual (love, the soul) over the material (wine, nectar, etc.).
The thirst that from the soul doth rise (spirituality)
Doth ask a drink divine (5-6)
The speaker suggests that love and desire are like thirsts that must be satisfied; it is as if they are just as important to the functioning of the physical, material body as food and liquid. This implies that physical and...