History WarriorPoet / RealLife

* Emperor Marcus Aurelius of AncientRome was more famous for his philosophical thoughts than for his warlike enterprises (and not because he had few of those).

* When you consider that it was (and still is) a requirement for all Greek men to serve in the military, then ''all'' the ancient Greek philosophers (Creator/{{Socrates}}, Creator/{{Aristotle}}, ''etc''.) and playwrights (Creator/{{Euripides}}, Creator/{{Sophocles}}, ''etc''.) were Warrior Poets. (In fact, Aeschylus' gravestone spends more time talking about his military successes than about his multi-award-winning literary career.) And since the Greeks fought each other all the time, the image of the "old philosopher" probably means the ones who survived that long were probably pretty good at fighting. To sum up: Socrates probably could have kicked your ass.

* The book that has been in consistent publication longer than any other book in human history is a book of poetry lasting only thirteen chapters. This book is also the most important book on war ever written, ''Literature/{{The Art of War|SunTzu}}'' attributed to Sun Tzu who made his living as a mercenary general.

!!Esrly modern

** [=MI6=] was populated by British intellectuals several of whom retired to write, among other things, SpyFiction. ** Similarly, two Military Intelligence officers who went on to write SpyFiction are Creator/IanFleming (Royal Navy) and Creator/JohnLeCarre (British Army). WriteWhatYouKnow, indeed.

** [=MI6=] was populated by British intellectuals several of whom retired to write, among other things, SpyFiction.

** Creator/LopeDeVega, who hopefully needs no introduction, also served in the Spanish navy. He became a friend of the renowned UsefulNotes/AlvaroDeBazan, Marquis of Santa Cruz, and later participated in the [[UsefulNotes/AngloSpanishWar15851604 Spanish Armada]], surviving the ordeal, although also retiring shortly after.

** Creator/GarcilasoDeLaVega, considered ''the'' Spanish poet, period, was also a military commander and died during the UsefulNotes/ItalianWars. While he was on his beatbed, wounded by a rock during an assault in Le Muy, his king UsefulNotes/CharlesV was so enraged by his imminent death that he had the entire enemy garrison executed.

* Creator/MiguelDeCervantes, the author of ''Literature/DonQuixote'', was a former soldier who lost an arm in the UsefulNotes/BattleOfLepanto and was held captive for five years.
* Saint Ignatius Loyola, along with the fellow founding members of the Society of Jesus. Aka Jesuits. He starts as a GeniusBruiser, finishes as the leader of a whole league of {{Badass Preacher}}s.
* Creator/GarcilasoDeLaVega, considered ''the'' Spanish poet, was also a military commander and died on the battlefield.
* Creator/FranciscoDeQuevedo, one of Spain's greatest poets and a damn good swordsman.
* Several Spanish Conquistadors also had a poetic streak within them. Most notably [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonso_de_ercilla Alonso de Ercilla]] who wrote [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Araucana La Araucana]], one of the most highly regarded epic poems in the Spanish language. Even UsefulNotes/HernanCortez himself, according to chroniclers, also did some informal poetry.

* Cyrano De Bergerac. Although perhaps better known for his fictional exploits, such as [[Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac the play named after him,]] the real Cyrano was a famous writer, a fearsome duelist in a time when duels had been made ''illegal'', and was so dangerous with a sword that his friends nicknamed him the Devil of Bravery. He also fought alongside d'Artagnan, another tough guy who is better remembered for his [[Literature/TheThreeMusketeers life in fiction]].

* Elliot Ackerman: Mr. Ackerman attended the prestigious Tufts University, graduating with top honors with a joint degree in literature and history. He then went on to serve in the United States Marine Corps, at first as an infantry officer before becoming a special operations officer. He served with distinction in Iraq and Afghanistan, being wounded in the former during the Second Battle of Fallujah. Ackerman retired after 8 years of service as a Captain and is currently an author based out of Turkey. His debut novel, Green on Blue, has received critical acclaim.

* Jason Everman is a musician who played guitar in bands such as Soundgarden and more prominently in Nirvana. The entire warrior poet philosophy motivated him to enlist in the U.S. Army in 1994. He first served in the Rangers before joining Special Forces (aka the Green Berets), serving tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He retired from the Army in 2006 and went on to earn a degree in Philosophy from the highly prestigious Columbia University. Fits the bill quite nicely, huh?

* Traditional Japanese culture is known for demanding samurai to be good at Ikebana (floral arrangement) and poetry and stuff. The ideal was summed up as "Bun Bu Ryo Do", literally "literary arts, military arts, both ways", or more loosely "The pen and the sword in accord". Samurai were among the most cultured and literate classes in pre-Meiji Japanese culture. The tea ceremony and rock garden also had their roots in Samurai culture.
** UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi is a famous example. Apart from being a swordsman, he painted and sculpted, practiced calligraphy, and studied Zen Buddhism.
** UsefulNotes/YagyuJubei, grandfather (Sekishusai), father (Munenori) all fit this trope. They mastered the sword but also took time to write books on the Zen in sword, and Munenori was a politician, even if an EvilChancellor.
** A noticeable [[AvertedTrope aversion]] of this trope among the samurai was Kato Kiyomasa. Unlike the norm, he disdained the arts and even outlawed participating in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noh Noh drama]] for the samurai within his domain with the punishment of {{Seppuku}}. This may have stemmed from him being a prominent figure during a chaotic conflict in the UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod. His precepts in general encouraged a spartan attitude and discouraged beautification while samurai were an upper-class category that were likely to display this as [[ConspicuousConsumption upper-classes are apt to]]. That being said, he didn't go into DumbMuscle territory and still encouraged reading of non-artistic matters.
* Similarly, in old Ireland, you couldn't be a great warrior unless you played the harp and mastered ''fidchell'', an ancient Irish board game, somewhat similar to chess.

*** And King Richard himself.
* Creator/MiguelDeCervantes, the author of ''Literature/DonQuixote'', was a former soldier who [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Cervantes#Military_service_and_captivity lost a hand]] in Lepanto and was held captive for five years.
* Irishman Joseph Mary Plunkett, executed for rebellion in 1916. He wrote "The Presence of God":
--> I see His blood upon the rose, // And in the stars the glory of His eyes; // His body gleams amid eternal snows, // His tears fall from the skies. // I see His face in every flower; // The thunder, and the singing of the birds // Are but His voice; and, carven by His power, // Rocks are His written words. // All pathways by His feet are worn; // His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea; // His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn; // His cross is every tree. //

* UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar, MagnificentBastard extraordinaire if there ever was one, was not only one of the greatest military geniuses ever but also a great prose writer and poet. Although his surviving prose works are still admired to this day for their clear, energetic style, practically none of his poems survives... however his fellow ancient Romans seem to have been [[BrokenBase divided over the quality of his poems]].
* [[Literature/TheLittlePrince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]].
* Patton. Anyone remember in the movie? "Through the travail of ages, midst the pomp and toils of war, have I fought and strove and perished, countless times amongst the stars."

* When you consider that it was (and still is) a requirement for all Greek men to serve in the military, then ''all'' the ancient Greek philosophers (Creator/{{Socrates}}, Creator/{{Aristotle}}, ''etc''.) and playwrights (Creator/{{Euripides}}, Creator/{{Sophocles}}, ''etc''.) were Warrior Poets. (In fact, Aeschylus' gravestone spends more time talking about his military successes than about his multi-award-winning literary career.) And since the Greeks fought each other all the time, the image of the "old philosopher" probably means the ones who survived that long were probably pretty good at fighting. To sum up: Socrates probably could have kicked your ass.
** Tyrtaios of Sparta had the curious distinction of being a [[KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect Spartan]] poet. This is explained by the fact that they are rather grim descriptions of phalanx warfare. The writer knows perfectly well that WarIsHell. [[ToHellAndBack He went right through it]]. [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy He was a Spartan.]]
* Many Irish rebels were also poets, most notably Patrick Pearse and James Stephens.

* Though more famous as a warrior, King UsefulNotes/RichardTheLionheart was also a poet; though only two of his poems survive, his ''routrenge'', ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBhQK8w0ATU Ja Nuns Hons Pris]]'' is well-known to connoisseurs of medieval music.

* Most poetry, drama, and music of the Aztecs were written by battle-hardened warriors. On the opposite side of the Mesoamerican wars, Xicohtencatl the Elder, chieftain of the Tlaxcaltecs and later nobleman of the Spanish Empire, was a noted poet as well as a retired warrior.
* Creator/LordByron, poet and playwright, who took up arms for the cause of Greek independence and died while drilling Alpine troops at Missolonghi.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egill_Skallagrimsson Egil Skallagrimsson]] of Iceland was famous as both a fighter (a berserker in fact) and a poet. He subverts this trope somewhat, in that while he had a caring and sentimental side, he also had a terrible temper and sometimes behaved very rashly.
* Emperor Marcus Aurelius of AncientRome was more famous for his philosophical thoughts than for his warlike enterprises (and not because he had few of those).

* Several eighteenth and nineteenth-century military and naval officers. Including King [[MagnificentBastard Frederick the Great]].
** "Several" puts it mildly. Life at sea was dull and many (most) turned to the arts and other intellectual pursuits to pass the time. Naval gazettes included poems written by officers, and officers were known to collect their works and publish. Note: They weren't necessarily inspired, nor even all that good, but, still, there you are.
** UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat besides ruling his country and commanding his army in the field wrote historical and philosophical works, poetry (including a very long didactic treatise about the art of war in verse), opera libretti, and instrumental music (some of which is performed to this day). He also dabbled in architecture.
** Ewald Christian von Kleist (1715-1759), one of Frederick's officers, also achieved fame as a poet, but his career in both fields was cut short when he was mortally wounded in the battle of Kunersdorf.
** August Neithard von Gneisenau, Blücher's chief of staff at Waterloo, wrote poetry in his youth and also displayed a measure of literary and rhetorical talent in articles such as the ones he wrote to popularize the Prussian army reforms. His first work was a poem in honour of poet, playwright, and critic Gotthold Ephraim Lessing on the occasion of his death.
** Paul Thiébault (1769-1846), the son of a French scholar and pedagogue, grew up in Berlin during the last years of Frederick the Great's reign. He was an amateur poet, playwright, composer, landscaper, author of epistolary romances... and a general, from time to time.
** Etienne de Jouy (1764-1846), Thiébault's brother-in-law, began his life as a soldier and retired after the Terror. He wrote several plays and operas that were quite successful in their time and earned him a seat at the ''Académie Française'', but are now largely forgotten.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Davydov Denis Davydov,]] a Russian soldier-poet of UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars.
* Creator/FranciscoDeQuevedo, one of Spain's greatest poets and a damn good swordsman.

* UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington was famous for simple, yet elegant prose in his speeches, and even wrote a book on etiquette, but this may have more in common with the CulturedBadass.

* One Sikh hymn compares God to ''every weapon known to the writer''.

* Creator/GarcilasoDeLaVega, considered ''the'' Spanish poet, was also a military commander and died on the battlefield.
* Several Spanish Conquistadors also had a poetic streak within them. Most notably [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonso_de_ercilla Alonso de Ercilla]] who wrote [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Araucana La Araucana]], one of the most highly regarded epic poems in the Spanish language. Even UsefulNotes/HernanCortez himself, according to chroniclers, also did some informal poetry.

* UsefulNotes/AlexanderHamilton is most famous as a politician, but he served with distinction in the Continental Army, leading the assault on Redoubt 10 at the Battle of Yorktown. He was also a poet, who published several works from an early age.
* Likewise, Hamilton's opponent UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson was an intellectual of renown who, while not a military officer, also saw a bit of combat during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution and afterward.

* [[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Luis-de-Camoes Luís de Camões]] was both a soldier of the Portuguese Empire and a poet, being one of the most important names in the Portuguese literature canon, equivalent to Cervantes or Shakespeare to the worlds of Spanish and English literature, respectively. Several of his portraits show him wearing armor and lacking an eye he lost in a battle at Ceuta.

* British Bangladeshi Rapper Sparkaman sometimes has raps song highlighting difficulties in life, such as his song [[https://youtu.be/aA5FhF4pN84 Two Identities]]. Outside of music, he is a passionate Muay Thai kickboxer and in even went to a training camp in Thailand as seen in his Music Video for [[https://youtu.be/Cr2JZEcEaZQ Shine]], which is also one of his more somber rap songs.