by John Lyly (1553 - 1606)

Sing to Apollo, god of day
Language: English 
Sing to Apollo, god of day,
Whose golden beams with morning play
And make her eyes so brightly shine,
Aurora’s face is called divine;
Sing to Phœbus and that throne
Of diamonds which he sits upon.
    Io, pæans let us sing
    To Physic’s and to Poesy’s king!

Crown all his altars with bright fire,
Laurels bind about his lyre,
A Daphnean coronet for his head,
The Muses dance about his bed;
When on his ravishing lute he plays,
Strew his temple round with bays.
    Io, pæans let us sing
    To the glittering Delian king!

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with The Book of Elizabethan Verse, ed. by William Stanley Braithwaite. Boston: Herbert B. Turner & Co., 1907; Bartleby.com, 2013. http://www.bartleby.com/331/4.html

Note: This song was sung at the first performance of Midas before the "Queenes Maiestie upon Twelfe Day at Night, by the Children of Paules," January 6, 1590. It was not included in the first published version (1592) but appeared in the second edition of the play by Edward Blunt in 1632 with six additional songs.


Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2015-04-02
Line count: 16
Word count: 94