Lament to the Spirit of War
Loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

You hack down everything you see, War God!

Rising on fearsome wings
you rush to destroy our land:
raging like thunderstorms,
howling like hurricanes,
screaming like tempests,
thundering, raging, ranting, drumming,
whiplashing whirlwinds!

Men falter at your approaching footsteps.

Tortured dirges scream on your lyre of despair.

Like a fiery Salamander you poison the land:
growling over the earth like thunder,
vegetation collapsing before you,
blood gushing down mountainsides.

Spirit of hatred, greed and vengeance!

Dominatrix of heaven and earth!

Your ferocious fire consumes our land.

Whipping your stallion
with furious commands,
you impose our fates.

You triumph over all human rites and prayers.

Who can explain your tirade,
why you go on so?

---

Commentary by Martin Mc Carthy

“Lament to the Spirit of War” is the very first anti-war poem, and a very appropriate poem to publish right now, when wars are still raging all around us, and eventual victory seeming likely to go to those with the best weapons. But in this poem, it’s abundantly clear from the very first line and its strong disapproving tone that this Sumerian poet/priestess does not approve of warfare, or war gods, and all their barbaric acts of destruction:

“You hack down everything you see, War God!”

Then she goes on to describe the scene, the violence raging like a tempest, as the pawns of those in power “rush to destroy the land”. Not only does Enheduanna describe the destruction, but she directly names the very source that motivates it all:

“Spirit of hatred, greed and vengeance!
Dominatrix of heaven and earth!
Your ferocious fire consumes our land”

and how powerless right-minded people, endeavouring to enact “holy rites and prayers” feel in the light of all this violent, senseless tyranny.

Finally, she concludes her poem by asking, with Zen-like calm, what any passionate anti-war protestor, confronting the very same atrocities and horrors in Gaza and Ukraine would ask today:

“Who can explain your tirade,
why you go on so?”

What a truly remarkable poem this is! How timeless and relevant Enheduanna’s words are! And how little has changed in over 4,200 years, when it comes to those who willingly serve the dark gods of warfare, who are still with us today!

Enhedaunna was the High Priestess of the goddess Ianna and the moon god Nanna. She lived in the Sumerian city-state of Ur (modern day Iraq) over 4,200 years ago, and is the earliest known poet ever recorded.

Originally published in The New Stylus.