Page 95 - 100 Best Loved Poems - Teaching Unit

“Requiem”
by Robert Loius Stevenson, pages 74-75

Vocabulary
[none]

1. Read the introduction to this writer’s life. What is significant about this particular poem?

This poem is carved into Stevenson’s gravestone in Samoa. It serves as his epitaph.

2. What does the repetition of “glad” and “I” suggest the tone of the poem to be?

The repetition of “glad” and “I” suggest that the speaker has willing chosen and allowed
himself to die. The resulting tone is one of acceptance and relief.

3. As the note that precedes the poem explains, Stevenson was an avid world-traveler. What
lines of the poem suggest his worldliness?

The poem’s final two lines allude to Stevenson’s travels, acknowledging his place on the
sea and on land.

4. The poem’s final line contains three words that begin with a hard ‘h’ sound: “hunter,”
“home,” and “hill.” What is the term used to describe such repetition?

The repetition is called alliteration.

5. What kind of feeling does this poem leave you with after you have read it?

Answers may vary. Example: Though this is a poem about someone’s death, the ending
leaves the reader feeling fairly positive. Lines like “Home is the sailor” and “the hunter
home from the hill” cause the reader to believe the person for whom the poem was written
is resting in peace and that his death was not something he was angry about or unprepared
for.

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