The Greek lyric, elegiac, and iambic poets of the two centuries from 650 to 450 B.C.--greats such as Sappho, Anacreon, and Simonides--produced some of the finest poetry of antiquity. Their poetry was perfect in form, spontaneous in expression, and reflected all the joys and anxieties of their personal lives and of the societies in which they lived. This new poetic translation by a leading expert captures the nuances of meaning and the whole spirit of this poetry as never before. Not merely a selection, it covers all the surviving poems and intelligible fragments (apart from the works of Pindar and Bacchylides) and includes a number of pieces not previously translated. Also included is an introduction offering a brief account of the poets, as well as explanatory notes on the texts.