Question

Read this excerpt from Jonson’s “Song: To Celia.” Explain the meaning of the lines and the literary devices they employ.

Answer 1

1. The meaning: the speaker is craving for Celia's love. He wants to quench his thirst not with an actual drink, but with Celia's looks and kisses. In these lines, he confirms that his desire is not only a physical (or even a mortal) one. It is also spiritual and emotional, and can only be satisfied with "a drink divine". He would prefer to drink from Celia's cup that from Jove himself. Jove of Jupiter was the most powerful god in the Roman mythology.

2. Literary devices: the soul's thirst is a metaphor for the speaker's needs and desires regarding Celia. Likewise, "a drink divine" is a metaphor for love, eroticism, everything that the speaker craves for. Those two metaphors correspond with each other: just like a thirsty person needs a drink, so an enamored person needs love (a look, a kiss) of their beloved. Nectar is a mythological drink of gods. Here, it serves as a hyperbole: even nectar, supposedly the most intoxicating drink, is nothing compared to Celia's love.

Answer 2

In these lines, the speaker places his desire for his love above that of a soul’s desire for a divine drink. The first two lines establish what is presumed true: souls desire divine drinks. The lines use alliteration (thirst, that, the; doth, drink, divine) and the second line is a foot shorter than the first. These qualities help bring the first two lines to a close, setting up the next lines.

These lines essentially brag that the speaker’s thirst is stronger than the soul's thirst for divine drink. Specifically, he would not trade ("change") Celia’s "nectar" for that of Jove, the Roman god. The words here are fairly common ones, but they are used in a special order and without filling in all the linking words. For example, "might I" means "if I had the chance to," and "sup" means to drink the nectar. By ending each couplet with the rhyming words divine and thine, the poem emphasizes the comparison between the divine nectar and Celia’s nectar, or the nectar of love. Because the  last word is thine, the reader is left with it echoing in his or her mind, giving the lover’s nectar a resounding depth. (PLATO)