War and Peace
‹ 3 · Outline · 5 ›
4.The glory and honor of arms
4a.Arms versus learning
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 50Confucius disclaims knowledge of battle lines, having studied only temple ritual.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 92–93Compares soldiers and knights, who execute Heaven's aims with arms and hardship, to religious men who pray in peace; the knight's lot is more laborious.read · scan
- p. 373Quixote begins arguing that arms excel learning, since the soldier's work requires understanding and fortitude, not only bodily force.read · scan
- p. 373–375Peace is the true end of war and the greatest earthly good, so arms surpass learning.read · scan
- p. 377Quixote describes the soldier's hardships and the perils of battle, arguing his labour exceeds the scholar's.read · scan
- p. 377–378Arms defend commonwealths, kingdoms and cities from war's confusion, and the soldier's cost in danger exceeds the student's.read · scan
Sir Philip Sidney, The Defense of PoesyVol. 27
- p. 34–36Anecdote of Goths who would burn a captured library to conquer while enemies were busy reading.read · scan
- p. 36Poetry accompanies soldiers to the field; Cato's objection to Ennius on campaign is answered.read · scan
Sir Thomas Browne, Religio MediciVol. 3
- p. 313–315Scholars are men of peace whose weapons are tongues and pens, sharper than razors.read · scan
John Milton, AreopagiticaVol. 3
- p. 193Spartans and early Romans were bred to military roughness and neglected learning.read · scan
4b.Heroic ideals of the warrior
See also: Honor 5c · Courage 8c · Revenge 4b
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 191He prefers galleys, wars and raids to farm labor and home-keeping thrift.read · scan
- p. 254–255He wishes for war, shield and spears, to show himself in the forefront of battle.read · scan
- p. 295Telemachus takes sword and spear to stand beside Odysseus as the slaughter begins.read · scan
- p. 296Odysseus opens the slaughter of the wooers, shooting Antinous with an arrow while the unarmed suitors scramble for weapons.read · scan
- p. 298Wooers draw swords and use tables as shields; Odysseus and Telemachus kill Eurymachus and Amphinomus and arm for battle.read · scan
- p. 299Odysseus and his men arm with shields, helmets and spears; he shoots wooers one by one, while the wooers plan to raise an alarm.read · scan
- p. 299–300Melanthius arms the wooers, dismaying Odysseus at the odds; Telemachus admits his mistake in leaving the armoury open.read · scan
- p. 301–302The remaining best wooers are urged on as the battle continues, recalling the Trojan war.read · scan
- p. 302–303Spear volleys are exchanged, with several wooers slain by Odysseus, Telemachus and the herdsmen while Athene turns aside the wooers' spears.read · scan
- p. 318–319Odysseus and his men arm themselves for the coming reprisals.read · scan
Aeschylus, The FuriesVol. 8
- p. 158–160Athena declares that if wars must be, her town shall have victory.read · scan
The Book of JobVol. 44
- p. 135The warhorse mocks fear, smells the battle afar and rejoices at trumpet and spear.read · scan
The Book of PsalmsVol. 44
- p. 160God trains his hands for war; he pursues and crushes his enemies.read · scan
- p. 160–164God subdues peoples under David, executing vengeance on enemies.read · scan
- p. 172–173Confidence though an army encamps or war rises.read · scan
- p. 182Martial imagery of shield, spear and pursuit; enemies speak not peace.read · scan
- p. 222–224Kings of armies flee and are scattered by the Almighty.read · scan
- p. 224God smites enemies and crushes them; imagery of bloody victory.read · scan
- p. 283–285Prayer for help against adversaries; through God we shall do valiantly.read · scan
- p. 293Nations compass him like bees and he cuts them off in Jehovah's name.read · scan
- p. 321Enemies gather for war; God covers the psalmist's head in day of battle.read · scan
- p. 324–325Asks God to destroy his afflicting enemies.read · scan
- p. 325God teaches hands to war and rescues from the sword and aliens.read · scan
Herodotus, An Account of EgyptVol. 33
- p. 50–52Rock carving of Sesostris with spear and bow proclaims 'This land with my shoulders I won for myself.'read · scan
Aristophanes, The FrogsVol. 8
- p. 469–470Aeschylus' Seven against Thebes filled audiences with war-spirit and eagerness for battle.read · scan
- p. 470–472The Persians inspired desire to defeat the country's foe; poets spur citizens to martial stature.read · scan
The Bhagavad-Gita; or, Song CelestialVol. 45
- p. 792–793Lawful war is a gateway to heaven for the warrior.read · scan
- p. 839–841Arjuna is bidden to rise, fight and destroy his foes as the Lord's instrument; the enemy chiefs are doomed.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 178The boys' martial drills are harmless, well-dissembled war.read · scan
- p. 266Warrior maiden Camilla leads Volscian troops, choosing arms over spinning.read · scan
- p. 287Vanquished nations march in Caesar's triumph, rivers submitting to Rome.read · scan
- p. 325Single combat in which Turnus kills young Pallas and taunts the Arcadians.read · scan
- p. 355Aeneas sets a trophy of Mezentius's spoils, encourages his men, and the argument tells of truce, peace offers and battle.read · scan
Tacitus, GermanyVol. 33
- p. 94Songs extol Hercules as they advance to battle.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 365–366Pliny congratulates Trajan on a glorious victory worthy of ancient Rome.read · scan
BeowulfVol. 49
- p. 5Scyld subdues squadroned foes and tribes; warriors loyal in war are won by gifts.read · scan
- p. 23Warriors prepare for battle in the hall, aware that many Danes have died there.read · scan
- p. 24Hand-to-hand combat in Heorot between hero and monster; the hall resounds with the struggle.read · scan
- p. 24–26The battle between Beowulf and Grendel; swords cannot harm the fiend, but Beowulf's grip wounds him mortally.read · scan
- p. 31–32War-gear and war-steeds are given; Hrothgar's valor never failed in the crush of combat.read · scan
- p. 38Warriors sleep with shields, helmets and spears at their heads, always prepared for battle.read · scan
- p. 40Grendel's mother raids Heorot; the Danes take up swords and shields, and bale is returned for bale.read · scan
- p. 43Avenging friends is better than fruitless mourning; the party hunts Grendel's mother.read · scan
- p. 46Hand-to-hand combat with Grendel's mother, who avenges her son.read · scan
- p. 46–48Beowulf kills Grendel's mother and Grendel's corpse, avenging Danes slain in Heorot.read · scan
- p. 73Recalls many wars of youth and the slaying of Daeghrefn in single combat.read · scan
- p. 74Battle between the hero king and the dragon; no respite or pact of peace.read · scan
- p. 74–76Battle-gear, feuds and the dragon fight frame the warrior's world.read · scan
- p. 76–78Combat with the dragon; the sword Nasgling breaks in battle.read · scan
Songs from the Elder EddaVol. 49
- p. 387–390She defends her warring and claims higher standing than the giantessread · scan
- p. 409–412Gunnar's company rides to Atli's hall, is met with armed warders, and is overcome in battle and fettered.read · scan
- p. 426–429Sorli and Hamdir fight through Jormunrek's hall, slaying Goths in a bloody assault.read · scan
The Song of RolandVol. 49
- p. 171–172Roland recounts the many lands conquered with Durindana for Charlemagne and fears it will fall to heathens.read · scan
- p. 191–193Detailed arming and mounted combat of the two knights.read · scan
The Story of the Volsungs and NiblungsVol. 49
- p. 258Sigi wins land and kingship by warring; Rerir slays all his father's killers in a mighty army.read · scan
- p. 259Kings go to war to keep land in peace; Volsung becomes the greatest of warriors.read · scan
- p. 263Volsung and his sons fight Siggeir's greater army, going eight times through it before Volsung falls.read · scan
- p. 272–273Helgi goes to war at fifteen and wins battles against Hunding and his avenging sons.read · scan
- p. 273Helgi musters a huge host and fleet to fight Hodbrod, and a fierce storm assails the ships.read · scan
- p. 274–275The hosts land and ritual exchange of insults precedes battle between Volsungs and Granmar's men.read · scan
- p. 275–276The armies muster and clash at Wolf stone; Helgi kills King Hodbrod under his banner and takes his realm.read · scan
- p. 279–280Sigmund and Eylimi fall in battle against Lyngi's larger host.read · scan
- p. 288–290Sigurd raises an army and fleet to attack Hunding's sons through a great storm.read · scan
- p. 291–293Sigurd wins a great battle against Hunding's sons, slaying kings and driving off the host, avenging his father.read · scan
- p. 310–311Talk of warrior kings, their battles and vengeance for slain kin.read · scan
- p. 345–346They confront Atli's armed host and slay Vingi.read · scan
- p. 346–347Battle between Atli's host and the Giukings; many fall; Gudrun's offer of peace refused.read · scan
- p. 347–348Fierce fighting in the hall ends with Gunnar and Hogni overcome and fettered.read · scan
- p. 355–356Gudrun arms her sons with byrnies and war weed for the expedition.read · scan
- p. 357–358Hamdir and Sorli fight bravely, invulnerable to iron, until stoned at the counsel of one-eyed Odin.read · scan
Traditional BalladsVol. 40
- p. 51–53Lord William fights and kills her seven brothers and father.read · scan
- p. 118–120Inverey's band raids Braikley's cattle, forcing a defensive fight.read · scan
- p. 155–157Little John and Much ambush the monk's company with bows, killing or routing his fifty-two men.read · scan
- p. 166–168After the contest the sheriff's men attack; arrows fly, Little John is wounded and outlaws fight their way off.read · scan
- p. 170–172Robin and his men ride to Nottingham, kill the sheriff and fight his men to rescue the bound knight.read · scan
Sir Thomas Malory, The Holy GrailVol. 35
- p. 111–112Jousting and tourney in the meadow of Camelot display knightly prowess.read · scan
- p. 124Combat with spear and sword against the seven knights ends in the castle's keys being surrendered.read · scan
- p. 124–126Three knights fight and kill the seven brethren who vowed to destroy Arthur's knights.read · scan
- p. 128Galahad unhorses Launcelot and strikes Percivale down in a joust.read · scan
- p. 136–138Knights attack Percivale merely because he is of Arthur's court and are routed in combat.read · scan
- p. 147The hermit left his hermitage to aid his nephew in war against the earl and took the earl prisoner.read · scan
- p. 151–152Tournament combat between black and white knights.read · scan
- p. 165–167Combat between Bors and Pridam decides the lady's land; Bors wins and Pridam yields.read · scan
- p. 178–179Galahad joins a tournament-like fight to relieve besieged knights.read · scan
- p. 182Deadly war between King Labor and the Saracen Hurlame ends with Hurlame's defeat and flight.read · scan
- p. 190The three knights fight and slay a castle's defenders, taking horses and storming the hall.read · scan
- p. 192–194Knights fight ten, then sixty defenders, and slay many in battle until nightfall.read · scan
Niccolò Machiavelli, The PrinceVol. 36
- p. 86Courageous arms against barbaric rage will make the strife brief, as Petrarch says.read · scan
William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35
- p. 220–221Edward III founded the Garter after victories over French and Scottish kings.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 135Quixote praises the honour of battle and victory as the highest content in the world.read · scan
- p. 168–169Sancho suggests serving an emperor who makes war so that valour may be shown.read · scan
- p. 170The king's war with a rival prince lets the knight ask leave to serve him.read · scan
- p. 252Praises Don Quixote's resolve to revive the worn-out exercise of arms in a niggard age.read · scan
- p. 383He chooses the wars to serve God and king.read · scan
Edmund Spenser, PoemsVol. 40
- p. 232–233His prowess and armies made Spain quake and defend country from foreign harms.read · scan
Sir Philip Sidney, The Defense of PoesyVol. 27
- p. 5Pugliano praises soldiers as noblest estate of mankind and horsemen as masters of war and ornaments of peace.read · scan
Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3
- p. 79–80Ancient martial honors, especially the Roman triumph, inflamed courage; modern wars lack such encouragement; sea power is valuable.read · scan
- p. 127Glory in soldiers and commanders sharpens courage, as iron sharpens iron.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkVol. 46
- p. 207–209Soldiers' rites honor Hamlet; Fortinbras comes from Polish conquest.read · scan
John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47
- p. 807–808The song honours martial discipline and arms as the Cardinal is invested as a soldier.read · scan
Philip Massinger, A New Way to Pay Old DebtsVol. 47
- p. 867–868Dead father's counsel: war is a school of honour where soldiers dare in a fair cause, obey, and endure hardship, not riot or dice.read · scan
Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of LeviathanVol. 34
- p. 367Scutcheons arose among warring petty lords; nothing was then honoured but military virtue, and states later rewarded soldiers with them.read · scan
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life Is a DreamVol. 26
- p. 42He longs for soldiers and the men of iron, with whom a king feels a king.read · scan
- p. 69Basilio's lost battle; Segismund fights like a warrior, mowing down ranks.read · scan
John Milton, Poems Written During the Civil War and the Protectorate, 1642-1658Vol. 4
- p. 78–79Poet asks soldier to guard the house from harm.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4
- p. 261Rejects battles and chivalric combat as the only heroic argument for epic verse.read · scan
John Milton, Samson AgonistesVol. 4
- p. 415Challenge to single combat; boasting versus fighting; Samson taunts Harapha's fear of armed duel.read · scan
- p. 415Samson slays more Philistines in death than in life; his revenge is an act of war against Israel's enemies.read · scan
Richard Lovelace, To Lucasta, on Going to the Wars; To Althea from Prison; To Lucasta, Going Beyond the SeasVol. 40
- p. 354–356He embraces sword, horse and shield as a new mistress.read · scan
Andrew Marvell, PoemsVol. 40
- p. 374–376Victories foretell conquests in Gaul, Italy and Scotland; keep the sword erect to hold what was won.read · scan
John Dryden, All for Love; or, The World Well LostVol. 18
- p. 26–29Ventidius scorns Egyptians who will not fight for Antony, contrasting effeminate timbrels with Roman trumpets.read · scan
- p. 29Antony is fired to lead his old troops against Octavius and the Parthian-beating veterans.read · scan
- p. 29–38Antony recalls storming Cassius' camp and longs to meet the foe in battle.read · scan
John Gay, Love in Her Eyes Sits Playing; Black-Eyed SusanVol. 40
- p. 402–403Sailor faces battle and cannon, trusting love to keep him safe.read · scan
Samuel Johnson, Life of Addison, 1672-1719Vol. 27
- p. 182–183War as poetic subject; the hero's excellence is calm command of passions amid danger.read · scan
William Cowper, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 537–539Druid prophesies Rome's fall to the wronged British queen.read · scan
- p. 539–541Queen rushes to battle against Roman oppressors and curses them.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19
- p. 41–42Burghers enjoy gossiping of distant wars while blessing peace at home; soldiers sing of glory and conquest.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, EgmontVol. 19
- p. 257–258Old Ruysum and Buyck toast soldiers and cry 'War for ever!'read · scan
- p. 265–267The soldier's song and marching troops in the street evoke the martial atmosphere.read · scan
- p. 332–333Drums recall his battles of victory and path of fame.read · scan
- p. 333Battle-drums and soldiers; Egmont rallies the people to defend against the foe.read · scan
John Dunlop, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 581Salutes the soldier who bled and the sailor who bravely fell.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 87–89Recalls Wallace's battles against the English.read · scan
- p. 173–175The poet's vision of Scotland's heroic martial race brandishing steel and routing their Suthron foes, with Wallace and other battle heroes.read · scan
- p. 252–254The castle has withstood war and repelled invaders; ancestors bore Scotia's lion through hostile ranks.read · scan
- p. 289–290Martyrs of the cause, Dundee and Balmerino, are promised vengeance on usurping Brunswick.read · scan
- p. 316–318Battle sounds cannot make the soldier-lover more loath to leave than parting from Mary.read · scan
- p. 344–345Captain's lady to watch her love in battle and enjoy peace when the foe sues.read · scan
- p. 419–421Martial story of Scotland; asks what makes heroic strife, assassin's knife and bloody warread · scan
- p. 421–423Jacobite songs of battle, foes getting their due, and toasts to Kenmure's band and its victory.read · scan
- p. 469–472Scots called to bleed for Wallace and Bruce, to victory or a gory bed.read · scan
- p. 492–494Martial deeds of Wallace and of Columbia's rising against England.read · scan
- p. 514–516War's alarms tear the soldier from his sweetheart amid roaring cannons.read · scan
Friedrich Schiller, William TellVol. 26
- p. 460–461He envisions battle between mailed chivalry and shepherd peasants, with glorious victories sealed in blood.read · scan
Carolina Oliphant, Lady Nairne, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 563–565Call to arms; lasses will give hand only to a man who will fight for Charlie.read · scan
- p. 565–566Highlanders leave hills, wives and children to draw the sword for the young Chevalier.read · scan
William Wordsworth, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 655–656Ideal of the soldier who keeps law and compassion amid bloodshed.read · scan
James Hogg, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 766–768Border ballad of raiders, foray and fray, with Elliot and his moss-troopers awaiting English invaders.read · scan
Sir Walter Scott, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 744–747Clan-gathering war songs summon Highlanders and Borderers to arms, urging them to leave home and fight for Scottish glory.read · scan
- p. 752–753Dundee readies steel and targets, sounds trumpets and rides out to war with three thousand clansmen.read · scan
George Gordon, Lord Byron, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 810–812The warrior's farewell urges his men to fight on and to bury him where he falls leading the host.read · scan
- p. 814–816He calls on his spirit to take the field and choose a soldier's grave.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5
- p. 343–344Sagas are sanguinary, but later ones contrast a soldier king with a lover of the arts of peace.read · scan
Robert Stephen Hawker, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1111–1112Twenty thousand men prepare to march against the king's men to rescue their captive.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 10Heroic defence against Turks and Spain, and love of wars and battles in history.read · scan
Edgar Allan Poe, The Poetic PrincipleVol. 28
- p. 392Cavalier's song glorifies fighting and dying like heroes, contrasted with modern view of warfare as absurd and impious.read · scan
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1005–1007Charge of the Light Brigade and Grenville's battle with the Spanish fleetread · scan
- p. 1021–1022Her song celebrates men marching to death for their native land.read · scan
Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln's Letter to Mrs. BixbyVol. 43
- p. 420Sons died gloriously on the field of battle.read · scan
James Russell Lowell, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1378–1379Scholars leave homes for war's tumult in a sacrificial call for the Union.read · scan
- p. 1382The path to higher destiny runs through battle; peace's wreath is honorable but conflict of creeds finally erupts in war.read · scan
Matthew Arnold, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1139Military imagery of charge, shot and forts used for the battle against folly.read · scan
Ernest Renan, The Poetry of the Celtic RacesVol. 32
- p. 156The heroes have no fatherland and no national cause; no hatred of the Saxon appears.read · scan
- p. 169The pacific, ascetic spirit of the new faith triumphs over the heroic sentiments of hero-worship.read · scan
William Morris, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1188–1190Trial by combat: Launcelot kills Mellyagraunce in a swift fight while she waits at the stake.read · scan
William Ernest Henley, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1209–1211England's bugles, sword and men ready to die at the call.read · scan
- p. 1211England as mother of ships and spouse of the ancient sword; bugles sounding.read · scan
4c.Satire and skepticism of military glory
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 247–248The fist fight in the ring, with the victor dragging the loser out.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 302–304A million-strong army could not resist the event appointed by God.read · scan
Niccolò Machiavelli, The PrinceVol. 36
- p. 15Quip that Italians did not understand war and the French did not understand statecraft.read · scan
Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German NationVol. 36
- p. 263Israelites defeated for trusting their own strength, as a lesson for those relying on power.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 63Quixote's mock-combat overthrows a friar; Sancho claims spoils by the law of arms, which the lackeys don't understand.read · scan
- p. 65The quarrel escalates to a mortal duel with drawn swords.read · scan
- p. 65–66Bystanders try in vain to reconcile the duelists, who threaten to put all to the sword.read · scan
- p. 70–71Describes the furious sword combat between Don Quixote and the Biscaine, ending with the vanquished man's life spared.read · scan
- p. 110A brawl with clubs; the two are beaten down by superior numbers.read · scan
- p. 137–138He reviews the champions of two supposed armies drawn up for battle.read · scan
- p. 141He accepts such disasters as due to those who profess the rigorous laws of arms.read · scan
- p. 145–147Quixote defies the company to mortal battle and routs them with his lance.read · scan
- p. 183Skirmish with lance, swords, darts and showers of stones between the guards, Quixote and the freed slaves.read · scan
- p. 509Two squadrons stand ready to fight, armed with whips, tapers and crossbows, until acquaintance appeases their fear.read · scan
Francis Bacon, LifeVol. 40
- p. 348–349Wars terrify, yet peace leaves us worse off; neither state gives relief.read · scan
Christopher Marlowe, Edward the SecondVol. 46
- p. 35They mock the king's soldiers who marched like players in garish robes rather than armour.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkVol. 46
- p. 174Hamlet learns that Fortinbras's army fights for a worthless patch of ground, calling it the sore of much wealth and peace.read · scan
- p. 174–177Hamlet sees twenty thousand men go to graves like beds for a plot too small to bury them.read · scan
Ben Jonson, The AlchemistVol. 47
- p. 600–602Face and Dol jest in military metaphor of camp, trenches, booty and ransom for their cozening.read · scan
John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47
- p. 801–804The Cardinal is commissioned as a soldier; courtiers mock Malatesti as a cowardly, bookish pseudo-soldier.read · scan
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life Is a DreamVol. 26
- p. 66–69Battle scene; Fife hides from bullets while praying for the safety of Rosaura.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise RegainedVol. 4
- p. 384Christ dismisses armies and leagues as 'cumbersome luggage of war', evidence of human weakness.read · scan
Andrew Marvell, PoemsVol. 40
- p. 370–372Flowers and bees as regiments, sentinels and militia, contrasted with a lost peaceful garden.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 52Men leave home to besiege a town or buy army commissions dearly rather than stay still.read · scan
- p. 103Killing an enemy across the river is made heroic by national boundary.read · scan
- p. 104Absurd that a man may kill me because our rulers quarrel.read · scan
John Dryden, PoemsVol. 40
- p. 393–395Song calls war toil and trouble and honor an empty bubble, then rouses vengeance and burning of Persepolis.read · scan
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10
- p. 111Enlistment surges at the start of a new war regardless of danger.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to ConquerVol. 18
- p. 220–221Military metaphors for dress and Hardcastle's tedious anecdote of Marlborough besieging Denain.read · scan
Edmund Burke, A Letter to a Noble LordVol. 24
- p. 410French gentry disdained war and self-defence, called military glory splendid infamy, and were unprepared.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19
- p. 159–161Valentine attacks the seducers and duels Faust and Mephistopheles.read · scan
Robert Burns, Poems and SongsVol. 6
- p. 162–164Soldiers flee or fight in battle; the Highlander kills at the king's will.read · scan
- p. 224–226Other poets sing of wars, the plagues of life; the bard rejects sword and gun.read · scan
- p. 375–377Satirical catalogue of European quarrels: Russians and Turks, Prussian blades, and the Swede.read · scan
- p. 379–381Election campaign described in mock-heroic battle imagery of armies, artillery and charges.read · scan
- p. 382–384Election contest as furious battle between Tories and Whigs, compared to storm and flood.read · scan
- p. 459–461Condemns hypocrites who murder men and thank God.read · scan
Robert Southey, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 732–734Old Kaspar recounts the Blenheim battle's ruin and skulls, yet calls it a famous victory; children question its worth.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 97The friar is likened to a general who lost a battle, distressed but not discouraged.read · scan
- p. 525–526Manzoni ironically notes the soldiery are pampered and the fame of taking Casale outweighs the plague's victims.read · scan
- p. 542–543Renzo is tempted to enlist as the Republic faces Spain and the Milanese; Bortolo argues against war.read · scan
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household TalesVol. 17
- p. 94The tailor is valued as a warrior useful should war break out; soldiers fear him.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, Sir Walter ScottVol. 25
- p. 424Compares European wars to parish brawls born of ignorance, intoxication and boastful speech, hoping good sense will put them down.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5
- p. 411–412War is a foul game, yet not the worst of aristocratic history.read · scan
Walt Whitman, Preface to Leaves of GrassVol. 39
- p. 391In peace the poet's spirit builds and encourages arts; in war he is the deadliest force.read · scan
James Russell Lowell, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1374–1376Mocks the Mexican War: peace must be druv in with bayonets.read · scan
Bret Harte, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1401–1402A nation's call to arms is weighed: war's profits, conquest's ills, death on the battlefield versus a life of cowardice.read · scan
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