c. 10th–2nd century BCE

The Psalmists

A choir of court, temple, and exile. The Psalter teaches Europe how to praise, curse, wait, and speak to an addressee who may not answer on cue.

Invented the lyric of address: the ‘I’ that is also a people, singing toward a Thou.

Primary works

Lyric sequence · c. 10th–2nd c. BCE

The Psalms

The Psalmists

A book of addresses: praise, complaint, royal boast, and the long wait. The ‘I’ of the psalm is sometimes a king, sometimes a people, always a voice turned toward someone.

Sacred lyric