The Greek lyric, elegiac and iambic poets of the two centuries from 650 to 450 BC - Archilochus and Alcam, Sappho and Mimnermus, Anacreon, Simonides and the rest - produced some of the finest poetry of antiquity, perfect in form, spontaneous in expression, reflecting all the joys and anxieties of their personal lives and of the societies in which they lived. This new poetic translation captures the nuances of meaning and the spirit of the poetry. It is not mearly a selection, but covers all surviving poems and intelligible fragments, apart from the works of Pindar and Bacchylides, and includes a number of pieces not previously translated. The Introduction gives a brief account of the poets, and explanatory notes on the texts will be found at the end.