First published in 1955 under the guidance of Spanish poet, critic, and educator Pedro Salinas, this delightful collection begins with the earliest works of Spanish literature--simple songs of love and grief--and the twelfth-century epic about Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar--El Cid; goes on to include the religious works of Gonzalo de Berceo, the elegiac ode of Jorge Manrique, medieval ballads and songs, the ecologues and sonnets of Garcilaso de la Vega, the mystical poetry of Fray Luis de León and Saint John of the Cross, and the cultismo works of Luis de Góngora; and concludes with poems by such recognized masters as Lope de Vega, Calderón de la Barca, and Miguel de Unamuno.