The Requiem Poem Monument at Oak Grove Cemetery in Historic Nacogdoches

REQUIEM

"UNDER THE WIDE AND STARRY SKY
DIG THE GRAVE AND LET ME LIE.
GLAD DID I LIVE, AND GLADLY DIE,
AND I LAID ME DOWN WITH A WILL.
THIS BE THE VERSE YOU GRAVE FOR ME:
HERE HE LIES WHERE HE LONGED TO BE;
HOME IS THE SAILOR, HOME FROM THE SEA,
AND THE HUNTER HOME FROM THE HILL.

The Inscription on the Wilson 1961 Monument is based on the Poem "Requiem" that Robert Louis Stevenson wrote as his own epitaph fifteen years before his death in 1894 on the Island of Samoa. The Wilson 1963 Companion Monument is based on John Masefield's poem "Sea Fever" which also expresses the virtue of optimistic acceptance in the adventure of life.

SEA FEVER

I MUST GO DOWN TO THE SEA AGAIN,
TO THE VAGRANT GYPSY LIFE,
TO THE GULL'S WAY AND THE WHALE'S WAY
WHERE THE WIND'S LIKE A WHETTED KNIFE;
AND ALL I ASK IS A MERRY YARN FROM A
LAUGHING FELLOW-ROVER,
AND A QUIET SLEEP AND A SWEET DREAM
WHEN THE LONG TRICK'S OVER.

"The "trick he is referring to is a "trick at the helm". On tall ships, the time one spends steering the ship is called a "trick" and they often lasted 2 to 4 hours. At the end of the "long trick" one would definitely need a good sleep."¹⁴

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