Introduction -- Secular Hebrew poetry in Spain as courtly poetry: is it indeed? -- The secular Hebrew poet as culture hero in the Middle Ages -- Genres and themes. The land of Israel and the national theme in Hebrew poetry from Sa'adia Gaon to Semuel ha-Nagid -- The religious element in the war poems of Semuel ha-Nagid and in the Arabic panegyrics in Andalusia -- Love in Hebrew secular poetry in the setting of medieval Arabic poetry -- Music and musical instruments in Spanish medieval Hebrew poetry : the poem of Yosef ibn Saddiq (Justo) in praise of Yishaq ibn Barun -- The chase as an allegory for the wrong and sufferings in the world as found in Tahkemoni by Yehuda Alharizi against the background of Arabic poetry -- Poetry and wisdom. The beloved woman as a metaphor for divine wisdom in the poems of Selomo ibn Gabirol -- Selomo ibn Gabirol : he that, from his youth, chose wisdom -- Body and soul in Spanish Hebrew poetry against the background of Muslim-Arabic culture -- The Hebrew transcription of Risalat al-Hatimi : a comparative study between sayings attributed to Aristotle and poetic verses attributed to Mutanabbi (Cambridge, T.S., Arabic, 45.2) -- Arabic rhetoric and poetry in medieval Hebrew poetry. Preliminary study in Hilyat al-Muhadara (HM) by Abu 'Ali Muhammad al-Hatimi : the 'lost' source of Mose ibn Ezra for his Kitab al-Muhadara wa-al-Mudhakara (KMM) -- Yehuda ha-Levi's Hebrew translations of Aabic poems -- Criticism of verse. Yehuda ha-Levi's attitude toward Arabic and Hebrew secular poetry and literature in the Kuzari -- Maimonides' attitude towards secular poetry, secular Arab and Hebrew literature, liturgical poetry, and towards their cultural environment -- Sem Tov ibn Falaqera's critique of poetry.