[1465] Come, My Celia

Come, my Celia, let us prove
While we may, the sports of love;
Time will not be ours forever;
He at length our good will sever.
Spend not then his gifts in vain.
Suns that set may rise again;
But if once we lose this light,
'Tis with us perpetual night.
Why should we defer our joys?
Fame and rumor are but toys.
Cannot we delude the eyes
Of a few poor household spies,
Or his easier ears beguile,
So removed by our wile?
'Tis no sin love's fruit to steal;
But the sweet theft to reveal.
To be taken, to be seen,
These have crimes accounted been.

	-- Ben Jonson

This poem, while clearly based on Catullus' fifth Song, is also more
than a little reminiscent of Marlowe's "Passionate Shepherd" [1], from
the rhymes used in the opening couplet to the underlying philosophy of
'carpe diem', seize the day [2]. It seems likely that Marlowe, like
Jonson, was inspired [3] by the Latin lyricist whose ode was the
starting point for this week's theme.

Note that I use the word 'inspired': unlike Richard Crashaw, or even Sir
Walter Raleigh, who were both content to simply translate part or all of
Catullus' song, Jonson introduces some significant changes of his own.
Gone are the censurious old men and their scandal-mongering; gone also
is the awkward business of mixing up three thousand three hundred kisses
for purposes of deception. In their place is a new idea: that affairs
themselves are are somehow less objectionable than their public display.
In other words, Jonson's poem embodies the 11th commandment: "Thou Shalt
Not Get Caught" <grin>.

thomas.

[1] Poem #997, The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
	-- Christopher Marlowe

[2] See also:
Poem #158, To His Coy Mistress -- Andrew Marvell
Poem #633, Odes: Book 1, Verse 11 -- Horace
Poem #1341, Carpe Diem, Baby -- James Hetfield

[3] In response to yesterday's poem, John Taber wrote in with a very
insightful and informative comment about how imitation was prized and
originality deprecated in pre-Romantic poetry. You can read it, along
with the Raleigh poem and commentary that prompted it, on the Minstrels
website under Poem #1464.

[this poem is archived, accessible and awaiting your comments at]
http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1465.html
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