The Poem Requiem, Essay Example

The mood of “Requiem” is one both shifting and constant. On one level, the poet presents a scene of misery that is ongoing. In the present tense, the first stanza paints a picture that is both strangely vague and very direct; there is a road, and on it march the dead, locked in a parade of despair. There are no actual references to violence here, yet everything is burning: “The conflagration stretches unbroken” (I, 6). This is a scene of unrelenting pain, even if the souls in question are no longer alive. By repeating the words “hatred” and “suffering”, the poet conveys the cycle of horror, stressing that it perpetuates itself always. This same quality of immediacy is also carried into the second stanza, although this allows for a little more reflection. The misery is more intimate because we know now mothers and children are in this nightmare. More importantly, prayers are actually spoken. These, then, are tortured souls who are very aware of their torture.

The third and final stanza shifts dramatically because it is accusatory. At the same time, the poet does not take this opportunity to lay blame; instead, the verse works to establish the truth at the heart of the nightmare, which is that death levels all humanity. There are no victims or conquerors mentioned because there is no point. As these souls move on in the fire, they find that they meet in “an everlasting alliance” (III, 5). Here, they can embrace one another because whatever it is or was that brought them to this damned state no longer matters. More importantly, it never did. This is the poet’s final message, in that death unites all. However, what is most powerful here is a suggestion of something like hope, or redemption. In this horrible scenario, love is somehow present, maybe finally freed when all the battle and killing is done. This alters the entire mood, if not in a blatant way, because it suggests meanings and consequences humanity cannot understand until it has destroyed itself.