Written by scholars in 17th-century studies, this collection of 12 original essays offers perspectives on the English religious lyric. It does so by addressing three issues of 17th-century devotional poetry: Is the religious lyric a genre, or is it only a lyric poem on a religious theme? When we say "religious" lyric, are we sometimes too restrictive and narrow in our understanding of the word? To what extent do religious lyrics also participate in and reflect the social, political and cultural contexts of the period in which they were written? These essays offer insights into the religious poetry of Donne, Herbert, Crashaw, Jonson, Herrick, Vaughan and Marvell. In addition, modern theoretical criticism is discussed, and the editor has provided a selective, though extensive, bibliography of modern studies of the religious lyric. Contributing to a fuller understanding and greater appreciation of this genre, "New Perspectives on the Seventeenth-Century English Religious Lyric" is aimed at 17th-century scholars and students.