Vintage Japanese Calligraphy Scroll Nogi Maresuke War Poem Kakemono

The Poem
山川草木轉荒涼，十里風腥新戰場。征馬不前人不語，金州城外立斜陽 ("Sanchuan caomu zhuan huangliang, shili feng xing xin zhanchang. Zhengma bu qian ren bu yu, Jinzhou cheng wai li xieyang.") — "Mountains, rivers, grass, and trees have all turned desolate; for ten miles, the new battlefield carries the stench of blood on the wind. War-horses will not advance, and the men stand in silence — before the walls of Jinzhou, standing still in the slanting light of evening sun."

The Poet: Nogi Maresuke
This poem is attributed to Nogi Maresuke (乃木希典, 1849–1912), a Japanese army general best known for commanding forces during the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), including the costly siege of Port Arthur. The verse is understood to reflect on the Battle of Jinzhou (金州), part of that campaign — its stark, unsparing imagery of a blood-scented battlefield, horses refusing to advance, and soldiers struck silent conveying the grim human cost of war rather than any note of triumph. Nogi was also known in later life for his poetry and his austere, disciplined personal code, and his death by ritual suicide following the Emperor Meiji's passing in 1912 made him a significant, complex figure in early 20th-century Japanese history.

Colophon & Calligrapher
The inscription reads 錄乃木將軍之詩、三平寫 ("Roku Nogi Shōgun no shi, Sanpei sha") — "Recording a poem by General Nogi, brushed by Sanpei (Mihira)" — identifying this scroll as a later transcription of the general's verse by the calligrapher Sanpei, rather than an autograph work by Nogi himself.

Condition & Presentation
Brushed in sumi ink on paper, mounted in sage-green patterned silk-brocade borders.