Scott Brewster is Director of English at University of Salford. He has published widely on modern poetry, Irish writing, Gothic and psychoanalysis. His co-edited essay collection, Irish Literature Since 1990, is forthcoming.

Lyric traces the history of the term from its classical origins through the early modern, Romantic and Victorian periods and up to the twentieth century and demonstrates the influence of various definitions of lyric on poetic practice, literature, music and other popular cultural forms.

1. Introduction 2. Origins and Definitions 3. Lyric and the Art of Persuasion 4. 'I wandered lonely': the lyric self, Romanticism and beyond 5. Love, loss and the beyond: lyrics of desire 6. Lyric, music and performance Bibliography