The seminar will circle round the notion of Mizmor, the Hebrew term designating psalm, hymn, collective song, and more. We ask: what is the signature of Mizmor? How can one identify poetry imbued with such a register? What voices are heard through it, what kind of love discourse does it provoke, and which gender positions and counter-positions does it involve? These are but some preliminary questions to be discussed while reading hymnal poetry from various traditions, among them the Homeric Hymns, to the Book of Psalms, medieval Hebrew poems and hymns, and modernist echoes of this tradition in English, German and Hebrew poetry. While probing these texts we will also explore the wider range of the liturgical aspect of poetry at large.