Requiem

Requiem by Robert Louis Stevenson is a brief, beautiful meditation on mortality, contentment, and the peaceful acceptance of death.

Written as the epitaph Stevenson wished to have on his grave, the poem approaches death without fear or despair. Instead, Stevenson looks back on a life willingly lived and imagines death as a return home—a sailor coming in from the sea, a hunter returning from the hills.

In just a few lines, Requiem transforms the traditional language of mourning into something unexpectedly serene and affirmative. Its simple imagery of stars, earth, sea, and home gives the poem a timeless quality, while its calm acceptance of life's ending invites reflection on how we choose to live before that ending arrives.

A concise classic of Victorian poetry, Requiem is a moving work about living fully, accepting mortality, and finding peace in life's natural conclusion.