Shelley calls on the muse Calliope to pour forth a song for the bright Sun, and immediately the poem floods with light. He lingers over the god’s family line—born to the large-eyed nymph Euryphaessa and great Hyperion, brother to Dawn and the fair-haired Moon—before the Sun himself bursts into view. His eyes blaze fiercely beneath a golden helmet, clear beams shoot from his hair, and a delicately woven robe of aethereal fabric ripples in the wind. The speaker’s voice is full of reverence and wonder, caught up in the sheer brilliance and rapid, unconquerable motion of the god. Heavenly steeds race him westward until his divine hands pull them to a halt, and the golden chariot suddenly descends from bright Heaven into the shadowy sea. The mood is luminous and breathless—an ancient awe made fresh, as if the god’s splendor is still racing right before our eyes.
Homer's Hymn to the Sun — Summary
Offspring of Jove, Calliope, once more To the bright Sun, thy hymn of music pour; Whom to the child of star-clad Heaven and Earth Euryphaessa, large-eyed nymph, brought forth; Euryphaessa, the famed sister fair Of great Hyperion, who to him did bear A race of loveliest children; the young Morn, Whose arms are like twin roses newly born, The fair-haired Moon, and the immortal Sun, Who borne by heavenly steeds his race doth run Unconquerably, illuming the abodes Of mortal Men and the eternal Gods.
Fiercely look forth his awe-inspiring eyes, Beneath his golden helmet, whence arise And are shot forth afar, clear beams of light; His countenance, with radiant glory bright, Beneath his graceful locks far shines around, And the light vest with which his limbs are bound, Of woof aethereal delicately twined, Glows in the stream of the uplifting wind. His rapid steeds soon bear him to the West; Where their steep flight his hands divine arrest, And the fleet car with yoke of gold, which he Sends from bright Heaven beneath the shadowy sea.