Definition of "pæan"

In the mean time I am going to that part, whence I think it convenient for the battle to begin; and, as I paſs, ſhall consider how things are with reſpect to ourſelves. When I come there, and we are juſt ready to engage, I ſhall begin the Pœan;[sic] and do you follow.

1773, W[illiam] Cooke, “The Life of Cyrus the Great”, in The Way to the Temple of True Honor and Fame by the Paths of Heroic Virtue: Exemplified in the Most Entertaining Lives of the Most Eminent Persons of both Sexes: On the Plain Laid down by Sir William Temple in His Essay of Heroic Virtue. In Four Volumes, volume II, Devizes, Wiltshire: Printed and sold by T. Burrough, bookseller; sold also by L[ockyer] Davis, over against Gray's-Inn-Gate, Holbourn, London, page 64

Oh, happy ſoldier! had thy worth been try'd, / In pious daring, on thy country's ſide! / Oh, had thy ſword Iberian battles known, / Or purple with Cantabrian ſlaughter grown; / How had thy name in deathleſs annals ſhone! / But now no Roman Pæan ſhalt thou ſing, / Nor peaceful triumphs to thy country bring, / […] Oh, hapleſs victor thou! oh, vainly brave! / How haſt thou fought, to make thyſelf a ſlave!

1795, Lucan, “The Pharsalia of Lucan”, in Nicholas Rowe, transl., The Works of the British Poets. With Prefaces, Biographical and Critical, by Robert Anderson, M.D., volume XII, London: Printed for John & Arthur Arch; and for Bell & Bradfute, and J. Mundell & Co. Edinburgh, book VI, page 797, column 1

The dissolution of this great Republic, and the probable failure of the mighty experiments in government of which it has been the theatre, will be a fine subject for political parties to illustrate their various prejudices. The upholders of despotism will sing pæans over its downfall—the lovers of liberty will mourn over what appears to be the stern condition of man, to run alternately the career of improvement and of degeneracy— […]

1833 February, “The Present Crisis in the United States”, in The Monthly Magazine, of Politics, Literature, and the Belles Lettres (New Series), volume XV, number LXXXVI, London: Published by Charles Tilt, 86, Fleet Street, page 209

Long before they reached this place, which was situated at the other end of the village, they heard the pæan of May carolled by a hundred voices; and, on entering the area, they immediately joined in the chorus.

1841, “The Journey”, in The Life and Times of Dick Whittington; an Historical Romance, London: Hugh Cunningham, St. Martin's Place, Trafalgar Square; Simpkin, Marshall and Co., Stationers' Hall Court; Edinburgh: Bell & Bradfute; Dublin: John Cumming; Glasgow: D. Campbell, page 57

But what tribute shall we bestow, what sacred pæan shall we raise over the tombs of those who dared, in the face of unrivalled power, and within the reach of majesty, to blow the blast of freedom throughout a subject continent?

1843, Dawes, “Intelligence Necessary to Perpetuate Independence”, in John E[py] Lovell, editor, The United States Speaker: A Copious Selection of Exercises in Elocution; consisting of Prose, Poetry, and Dialogue: Drawn Chiefly from the Most Approved Writers of Great Britain and America: Including a Variety of Pieces Suitable for Very Young Readers: Designed for the Use of Colleges and Schools, rev. and imp. stereotype edition, New Haven, Conn.: Published by S. Babcock, page 27

The pæans were songs, of which the tune and words expressed courage and confidence. […] Pæans were sung, not only when there was a hope of being able, by the help of the gods, to overcome a great and imminent danger, but when the danger was happily past; they were songs of hope and confidence as well as of thanksgiving for victory and safety.

1847, K[arl] O[tfried] Müller, “Earliest Popular Songs”, in George Cornwall [i.e., Cornewall] Lewis, transl., History of the Literature of Ancient Greece, to the Period of Isocrates. Translated from the German Ms. of K. O. Müller, Professor in the University of Gottingen (Library of Useful Knowledge), new corr. edition, London: Robert Baldwin, 47, Paternoster Row [published under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge], pages 19–20

Then let the pæaned hymn aspire, / Nor longer court unholy gloom; / Let happier music wake thy lyre, / Than haunts the precincts of the tomb.

1804, Joseph Story, “[Fugitive Poems:] Expostulation and Reply”, in The Power of Solitude. A Poem. In Two Parts, new and imp. edition, Salem, Mass.: Published by Barnard B. Macanulty, page 211

Solemn, "as it were a pause in nature," was his [George Washington's] transit to eternity; thronged by the shades of heroes, his approach to the confines of bliss; pæaned by the songs of angels, his journey beyond the stars!

1812, Robert Treat Paine, Jr., “Eulogy on the Life of General George Washington”, in The Works, in Verse and Prose, of the Late Robert Treat Paine, Jun., Esq. With Notes. To which are Prefixed, Sketches of the Life, Character and Writings, Boston, Mass.: Printed and published by J. Belcher, part IV (Prose Writings), page 329

What harbinger victorious tidings brings, / And yonder soars on golden wings? / Beams on the solar god her bright undazzled eyes, / Proclaims with pæaning trump some hero to the skies!

1842, Angus Umphraville, “The Siege of Baltimore”, in W[illia]m McCarty, editor, Songs, Odes, and Other Poems, on National Subjects; Compiled from Various Sources, part III (Military), Philadelphia, Pa.: Published by Wm. McCarty, No. 27 North Fifth Street, canto IV, stanza II, page 218

Yea, with gladness did they pæan, bowing low before my car, / In my ears their homage echoed from the sunrise to the star.

1907, J[ohn] F[rederick] C[harles] Fuller, “The Looking-glass”, in The Star in the West: A Critical Essay upon the Works of Aleister Crowley, London, Felling-on-Tyne, County Durham, New York, N.Y.: The Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd., page 46