Thomas Humphry Ward, ed. The English Poets. 1880–1918.rnVol. II. The Seventeenth Century: Ben Jonson to Dryden

Ben Jonson (1572–1637)

Song—To Celia: ‘Drink to me only with thine eyes’ (from The Forest)

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 withered 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.