Rage:
Sing, Goddess, Achilles' rage,
Black and murderous, that cost the Greeks Incalculable pain,
pitched countless souls Of heroes into Hades' dark,
And left their bodies to rot as feasts
For dogs and birds, as Zeus' will was done.
Begin with the clash between Agamemnon-
The Greek warlord--and godlike Achilles.

(Homer, 1)

We held our annual Risk event the Friday before New Year's and had one new fellow join in. Bill had been painting for my mother and found out about my wargaming. As a boy, he and his father had cast their own figures and painted them as accurately as their research allowed. It turned out that he was interested in the gaming I was involved in and, after Risk and BattleCry, we're looking forward to DBA and whatever else I come up with. A former English teacher, Bill also turned out to be a poet and historian, with several published works in each area. It was his war poetry, collected in his Battle Verse, that prompted this little anthology.

This book of Bill's poetry finds its inspiration in the ancient and medieval world, with a bit of fantasy thrown in. Naturally, I found myself wondering how much war poetry might have been written by contemporaries of the events, and a quick scan of the books on the shelves behind me picked up some interesting, and mostly random, examples. Of course, Homer is the obvious one, but as early as people wrote poetry, or songs, their military exploits and yearnings joined their literature.

Sumerian Hymm

A Sumerian hymn to the god Ninurta describes wrathful side of this two-sided deity, who also was a god of vegetation:

[My king...
Who like Irra roams about in the night,] [Lord Ninurta]...
Who like Irra roams about in the night.
[My king] who like Irra has perfected heroship,
Dragon with the "hands' of a lion, the claws of an eagle,
Lord Ninurta who like Irra has perfected heroship,
Dragon with the "hands' of a lion, the claws of an eagle.
My King who vanquishes the houses of the rebellious lands,
great lord of Enlil,
You, with power you are endowed.
Lord Ninurta who vanquishes the houses of the rebellious lands, great lord of Enlil.
You, with power you are endowed.
My king, when your heart was seized (by anger),
You spat venom like a snake,
Lord Ninurta, when your heart was seized (by anger), You spat venom like a snake,

And the king/Lord Ninurta goes on to "break up the rebellious lands ... scatter [the enemy] like rushes" and prove himself to be the adversary of the "house of the foe" and the enemy of his foe's city. (Kramer, 124)

Egypt can't be ignored in any look at the ancient world, and we find a 13th century BC victory hymn in the preserved literature. The poem commemo rates the conquest of Asia, and is one of the only places where the word "Israel" appears in Egyptian literature.

The princes are prostrate, saying: "Mercy!"
Not one raises his head among the Nine Bows. Desolation is for Tehenu;
Hatti is pacified; Plundered is the Canaan with every evil;
Carried off is Ashkelon; seized upon is Gezer;
Yanoam is made as that which does not exist;
Israel is laid waste, his seed is not; Hurru is become a widow for Egypt!
All lands together, they are pacified;
Everyone who was restless, he has been bound
by the King of Upper and lower Egypt: Ba-en-Re Meri-Amon;
the Son of RE: Mer-ne-Ptah Hotep-hir-Maat, given life like Re every day.

(Wilson, 231)

Homer is the ancient poet most of us have some familiarity with, and we began this piece with the opening lines of The Iliad. Here's a bit of battle description from the middle of the poem:

Eurypylus, Euaemon's glorious son,
Saw the thicket of spears surrounding Ajax And moved over to help.
His first throw Hit Apisaon, Phausius'son, in the liver.
The man crumpled, and Eurypylus Leapt upon him to unstrap his armor,
But as he was doing so, Paris Alexander 
Saw him and drew his bow. The arrow Hit Eurpylus in his right thigh.
The shaft Broke off, but is was all he could do
To drag his leg along as he made his way Back to the Greek lines, shrinking from death.
Then his shout rang in every Danaan ear:
"Achaean captains! Rally around Ajax
And see to it that this day is not his last. He's under pressure from all sides
And won't pull through without our help. Make a stand for great Ajax, son of Telamon!"
Thus the wounded Eurypylus, who was soon Surrounded by Greek troops leaning their shields On their shoulders and holding their spears high.
Ajax managed to get over to this group, And when he did, turned and took his stand.
So the fight went on, like wildfire burning.

(Homer, 215)

Rome

Rome's military exploits found much description in historical works, but Roman poetry also recognized the place of war in the life of the city. Horace, naturally, looked at it from an unexpected point of view:

Iccius, what change is here?
You covet now Arabian treasures, and inflame your mind
Proud princes of Sabaea to o'erthrow And furious Medes to bind.
What Syrian damsel, widowed by your sword,
From golden ewer shall bathe your conquering feet?
What curled and courtly page beside the board
Shall serve you wine and meat,
Erst skilled to level from his father's bow Cathayan arrows?
Who will now deny That downward rivers up steep hills can flow,
Or Tiber backward hie,
When, from whom we hoped for better things,
Swap the choice books you bought at every sale
The best philosophers' best imaginings-
for coats of Spanish mail?

(Horace, 88)

New Gamer

And how does our newfound gamer, Bill, look at this ancient world of war?

FEVERED

The Celts topped the rise, clashing shields and spears, half-mad on mead.
They stood naked, tattooed, brandishing their weapons, their hair stiff with lime.
The chieftain advanced on his dappled mount, moving like lava.
Slings hissed. Horses shrieked. Boar-headed trumpets blared.
The Celts charged howling in an avalanche attack,
fevered to hunt the Roman head.

(Robertson, 5)

Which sounds a lot like some DBA games I've been in...

We finish with Stanley Lombardo's very reader-friendly translation of the conclusion of The Iliad:

The people gathered around Hector's pyre,
And when all of Troy was assembled there
They drowned the last flames with glinting wine.
Hector's brothers and friends collected
His white bones, their cheeks flowered with tears.
They wrapped the bones in soft purple robes And placed them in a golden casket,
and laid it in the hollow of the grave, and heaped above it A mantle of stones.
They built the tomb Quickly, with lookouts posted all around In case the Greeks should attack early.
When the tomb was built, they all returned
To the city and assembled for a glorious feast in the house of Priam, Zeus' cherished king.

That was the funeral of Hector, breaker of horses. (Homer, 492.)

References

Homer. Stanley Lombardo, traps. Iliad. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1997.
Horace. Edward Marsh, trans. "A Scholar Goes to War. Odes I, 29." Selected Poems of Horace. Roslyn : Black, 1948.
Kramer, S. N., trans. "Hymn to Ninurta as a God of Wrath." in James B.
Pritchard. The Ancient Near Fast, Vol. II, A New Anthology of Text and Pictures. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1975.
Robertson, William P Battle Verse. Duke Center, PA: Robyl Press, 1996.
Wilson, John A., trans. "Hymn of Victory of Ner-ne-Ptah ('Israel Stela')." in James B. Pritchard. The Ancient Near Fast, Vol. I, An Anthology of Texts and Pictures. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1958.