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 carry on so?
Enheduanna (c. 2285-2250 BC) Akkadian Empire (Modern Iraq)
Translated by Michael R. Burch
Source: The HyperTexts
Enheduanna was the daughter of the famous King Sargon the Great of Akkad and priestess of the moon god Nanna (Sīn) in the Sumerian city-state of Ur, and is possiby the oldest known (named) poet
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