Lyric address: By way of an introduction — Cornelis van der Haven, Jürgen Pieters 1. Staying in tune with love — Anikó Daróczi Hadewijch, ‘Song 31’ (13th century) 2. O brittle infirm creature — Clara Strijbosch Anon. (Gruuthuse MS, f. 28v), ‘Song’ (ca. 1400) 3. Lyric address in sixteenth-century song — Dieuwke van der Poel Aegied Maes (?), ‘Come hear my sad complaint’ (before 1544) 4. An early-modern address to the author — Britt Grootes Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, ‘My love, my love, my love’ (1610) 5. Parrhesia and apostrophe — Marrigje Paijmans Joost van den Vondel, ‘Salutation to the Most Illustrious and Noble Prince Frederick Henry’ (1626) 6. Lyrical correspondence — Marijn van Dijk Maria Tesselschade Roemers Visscher, ‘To My Lord Hooft on the death of Lady van Zuilichem’ (1637) 7. The apostrophic interpellation of a son — Jürgen Pieters Jan Six van Chandelier, ‘Myn Vaaders lyk my toesprekende’ (1657) 8. Guilty pleasure — Christophe Madelein Hubert Korneliszoon Poot, ‘Thwarted Attempt of the Poet’ (1716) 9. Same-sex intimacy in 18th-century occasional poetry — Maaike Meijer Elizabeth Wolff-Bekker, ‘To Miss Agatha Deken’ (1777) 10. Nature, poetry and the address of friends — Cornelis van der Haven Jacobus Bellamy, ‘To my Friends’ (1785) Epilogue: Lyrical and theatrical apostrophe, from performing actor to textual self — Frans-Willem Korsten