Lyric Address in Dutch Literature, 1250-1800 provides accessible and comprehensive readings of ten Dutch lyrical poems, discussing each poem's historical context, revealing its political or ideological framing, religious elements, or the self-representational interests of the poet. The book focuses on how the use of the speaker's "I" creates distance or proximity to the social context of the time. Close, detailed analysis of rhetorical techniques, such as the use of the apostrophe, illuminates the ways in which poetry reveals tensions in society.

Contributions by: Anikó Daróczi, Maaike Meijer, Dieuwke Poel, Frans-Willem Korsten, Clara Strijbosch, Marrigje Paijmans, Marijn Dijk, Britt Grootes, Christophe Madelein, Jürgen Pieters, Cornelis Haven