A hymn sung or saidIncenseWineHoneySilence keptA vow made plainly
Invocation Approach
Tone
Reverent and quiet
Address
PolyhymniaShe of Many HymnsThe Silent One
Relationship
The song addressed to what is greater
Warning
The finger is on the lips and the hymn is not for display
Resonance
Those who pray sing in choirs or keep silence as a practice
Symbols
The finger to the lipsThe veilThe lyreThe scroll
Mythology Summary
Polyhymnia, she of many hymns, is named in Hesiod's list of the nine Muses (Theogony 78), daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Her domain of hymn, sacred song and - in some later accounts - rhetoric and memory belongs to the post-classical systematisation, and her most characteristic image is the finger laid to the lips. The Muses' cult was collective: the Helicon sanctuary and the Thespian Mouseia (Pausanias 9.29-30).
Modern Practice
The Muse of the addressed song: invoked when a hymn is sung at the start of ritual, and - more usefully - when silence is the offering. Her practice is the vow said plainly once and then kept.