Includes bibliographical references.

Origin and history of lyric poetry: Musical essence of the lyrics -- A brief historical overview -- The "modern" lyric -- A short anthology of world poetry: Creation hymn to haiku -- The literary work as representation -- Early Filipino poems in English -- Marjorie Evasco's "Is it the kingfisher?" Romantic, new critical, contemporary: A reading of Fernando M. Maramag and Edith L. Tiempo -- Ma. Luisa B. Aguilar-Cariño's "The secret language" -- An anthology of short poems in English by Filipino poets -- Meter -- Once more with feeling -- Scansion: A few examples -- Villanelle, sestina, pantoum, sonnet -- Free verse or, how you break the prose sentence to make a poem -- Free verse: One more time -- Imagery -- How does poetry create meaning -- Metaphor -- Revising the poem -- Poetic exercises -- An anthology of contemporary Filipino poetry in English.