Poems and Quotes
As the title says, Dead Poets Society has a lot to do with poetry. In the film there are many examples of poems used by the characters and there are many memorable quotes also.
(Tip: these are very useful to learn and put into your essay)
This is the poem that was read at the opening of the Dead Poets Society meetings:
"I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately
I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life!
To put to rout all that was not life
And not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived..."
Here is Todd's poem from class:
"I close my eyes, and this image floats beside me:
a sweaty-toothed madman with a stare that pounds my brain.
His hands reach out and choke me and all the time he's mumbling,
mumbling truth like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold.
You push it, stretch it, but it'll never be enough.
You kick at it, beat it, it'll never cover any of us.
From the moment we enter crying
to the moment we leave dying
it'll only cover your face as you wail and cry and scream."
Keating says the next quote to the boys. Its a good one about life:
"Oh me. Oh life.
Of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless,
Of cities filled with the foolish.
What good amid these o me, o life?
The answer, that you are here.
That life exists and identity.
That the powerful play goes on.
and you may contribute a verse.
What will be your verse?"
Another one from Keating. Its about being an individual and not conforming:
"You must strive to find your own voice.
The longer you wait the less likely you are to find it."
This quote shows just how daring Keating was and how unconventional his teaching methods were:
"O Captain, my Captain.
Who knows where that comes from?
Anybody? Not a clue?
It's from a poem by Walt Whitman about Mr. Abraham Lincoln.
Now in this class you can either call me Mr. Keating,
or if you're slightly more daring, O Captain my Captain."
Here's the infamous 'phonecall from God' that Charlie receives in assembly:
[answering phone] "Welton Academy, hello.
Yes he is, hold on.
Mr. Nolan, it's for you. It's God.
He says we should have girls at Welton!"
Here is part of a conversation between Headmaster Mr Nolan and Mr Keating. Another good one about conformity:
Nolan: "John, the curriculum here, as set, has proven it works.
If you question it, what's to prevent them [the boys] from doing the same?"
Keating: "I always thought the idea of education was to learn to think for yourself."
Todd says this next quote to Neil. It shows that perhaps Neil was a mentor for him (can be contrasted in an essay about Keating being a mentor to the boys):
"I'm not like you Neil. You say things and other people listen"
Knox says this next quote at the second meeting of the Dead Poets Society. It is foreshadowing the suicide that is to follow later in the play:
"I can't take it anymore! If I can't have Chris I'll kill myself"
These next quotes are said to Neil by his father. They can be used to argue in an essay that he was the reason Neil kills himself, not because of Keating:
"You're going to Harvard and you're going to be a doctor"
"I'm not going to let you ruin your life"
"You have more opportunities than I ever had"
"You make it sound like a prison sentence"
These next two quotes are said by Todd and shows the boys loyalty to Keating:
"Mr Keating responsible for Neil? Is that what they think?"
"His father killed him"
This quote said by Mr Nolan shows how they placed the blame for Neil's death solely on Mr Keating:
"It was Mr Keatings blatant abuse of his position as teacher that lead directly to Neil Perry's death"
Of course the most important and useful quote that you can put into any essay is this (said by Keating):
Seize the day!
Make your lives extraordinary!"
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