4بخش

“Dogs, sir?

“Oh, not just now. “I do enjoy a good dog once in a while, sir.

You can have yourself a three-course meal from one dog.

Start with your canine croquette,

go to your Fido flambeau for main course, and for dessert, a Pekingese parfait.

And you can pick your teeth with a little paw.

Why do I stand up here?

Anybody?

To feel taller.

No.

Thank you for playing, Mr. Dalton.

I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way.

You see, the world looks very different from up here.

You don’t believe me?

Come see for yourselves.

Come on.

Come on.

Just when you think you know something, you have to look at it in another way.

Even though it may seem silly or wrong, you must try.

I stand upon my desk to remind myself Consider what you think.

Boys, you must strive to find your own voice.

Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all.

Thoreau said, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.

Don’t be resigned to that.

Break out.

Don’t just walk off the edge like lemmings, look around you.

There.

There you go, Mr. Priske.

Thank you, yes.

Dare to strike out and find new ground.

Now, in addition to your essays, I would like you to compose a poem of your own.

An original work.

That’s right.

You have to deliver it aloud in front of the class on Monday.

Bonne chance, gentlemen.

Mr. Anderson?

Don’t think that I don’t know that this assignment scares the hell out of you, you mole.

Take a power train in two.

Three.

Keep your eyes in the boat.

Stroke.

Quick, captain.

Let’s go.

We got it, Pittsie, we got it.

Radio Free America.

Let’s do it again.

I found it.

You found what?

What I want to do right now.

What’s really, really inside of me.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”?

This is it.

What is that?

It’s a play, dummy.

I know that.

What does it have to do with you?

All right, they’re putting it on at Henley Hall.

Open tryouts.

Open tryouts.

Yes, so?

So.

I’m gonna act.

Aha!

Yes, yes, I’m gonna be an actor.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to try this.

I even tried to go to summer stock auditions last year,

but, of course, my father wouldn’t let me.

For the first time in my whole life, I know what I want to do.

And for the first time, I’m gonna do it!

Whether my father wants me to or not.

Carpe diem!

Neil, Neil, hold on.

How are you gonna be in a play if your father won’t let you?

First, I gotta get the part, then I can worry about that.

Won’t he kill you if he finds out you went to an audition and didn’t tell him?

No.

As far as I’m concerned, he won’t have to know about any of this.

That’s impossible.

Bullshit, nothing’s impossible.

Why don’t you just call him and ask him?

Maybe he’ll say yes.

That’s a laugh.

If I don’t ask him, at least I won’t be disobeying him.

Yeah, but if he said no.

Jesus, Todd, whose side are you on?

I mean, I haven’t even gotten the part yet.

Can’t I even enjoy the idea for a little while?

You’re coming to the meeting this afternoon?

I don’t know.

Maybe.

Nothing Mr. Keating has to say means shit to you, does it, Todd?

What does that mean?

You’re in the club.

Being in the club means being stirred up by things.

You look about as stirred up as a cesspool.

So you want me out?

No, I want you in.

But being in means you gotta do something,

not just say you’re in.

Well, listen, Neil.

I appreciate this concern, but I’m not like you, all right?

You say things and people listen.

I’m not like that.

Don’t you think you could be?

No.

I.

I don’t know, but that’s not the point.

The point is that there’s nothing you can do about it.

So you can just butt out.

I can take care of myself just fine.

All right?

No.

What do you mean, no?

No.

Give me.

Neil, give that back.

What is this?

“We are dreaming of a.

”

What it this?

Poetry.

I’m being chased by Walt Whitman.

Okay, okay.

What are you guys doing?

I’m trying.

You see this chemistry.

Hey, give me.

Neil, give me.

Don’t be immature.

Come on, I need my.

Give it to me.

Give it to me.

Charlie, help me.

Grab that book.

I need.

Whoo.

Whoo!

Okay, everybody on the bus.

Let’s go, boys.

Come on, let’s go.

On the bus, boys, now.

Now, devotees may argue that one sport or game is inherently better than another.

For me, sport is actually a chance for us to have other human beings push us to excel.

I want you all to come over here and take a slip of paper and line up single file.

Mr. Meeks, time to inherit the earth.

Mr. Pitts, rise above your name.

I want you to hand these out to the boys, one apiece.

You know what to do, Pitts.

O to struggle against great odds, To meet enemies undaunted.

Sounds to me like you’re aunted.

Say it like you’re undaunted.

O to struggle against great odds,To meet enemies undaunted.

Now, go on.

Yes.

Next.

To be a sailor of the world, Bound for all ports.

Next.

Louder.

O while I live to be the ruler of life, Not a slave.

To mount the scaffolds, To advance to the muzzles of gunsو With perfect nonchalance!

Come on, Meeks.

Listen to the music.

To dance, clap hands, exult

Shout, skip, roll on, float on!

Yes.

O to have life henceforthو A poem of new joys

Aw, pbbt.

Boo.

Come on, Charlie, let it fill your soul.

To indeed be a god.

Charlie, I got the part.

Rah!

I’m gonna play Puck.

I’m gonna play Puck.

What did he say?

Puck?

The main part.

Great, Neil.

Charlie, I got it.

Congratulations.

Good for you, Neil.

Good for you.

Okay, okay, okay.

Neil, how are you gonna do this?

They need a letter of permission from my father and Mr. Nolan.

You’re not gonna write it.

Oh, yes, I am.

Oh, Neil, you’re crazy.

Okay.

“I am writing to you on behalf of my son,

Neil Perry.

”

This is great.

“To Chris.

”

Who’s Chris?

Mmm.

Chris.

I see a sweetness in her smile.

Bright light shines from her eyes.

But life is complete Contentment is mine

Just knowing that.

Just knowing that

She’s alive.

Sorry, captain, it’s stupid.

No, no, it’s not stupid.

It’s a good effort.

It touched on one of the major themes: love.

A major theme not only in poetry, but life.

Mr. Hopkins, you were laughing.

You’re up.

The cat sat on the mat.

Congratulations, Mr. Hopkins.

You have the first poem to ever have a negative score on the Pritchard scale.

We’re not laughing at you, we’re laughing near you.

I don’t mind that your poem had a simple theme.

The most beautiful poetry can be about simple things

like a cat, or a flower, or rain.

You see, poetry can come from anything with the stuff of revelation in it.

Just don’t let your poems be ordinary.

Now, who’s next?

Mr. Anderson, I see you sitting there in agony.

Come on, Todd, step up.

Let’s put you out of your misery.

I didn’t do it.

I didn’t write a poem.

Mr. Anderson thinks that everything inside of him is worthless and embarrassing.

Isn’t that right, Todd?

Isn’t that your worst fear?

Well, I think you’re wrong.

I think you have something inside of you that is worth a great deal.

“I sound

my barbaric

yawk

over the rooftops of the world.

W.W, Uncle Walt again.

Now, for those of you who don’t know, a yawp is a loud cry or yell.

Now, Todd, I would like you to give us a demonstration of a barbaric yawp.

Come on, you can’t yawp sitting down.

Let’s go.

Come on, up.

Gotta get in yawping stance.

A yawp.

No, not just a yawp.

A barbaric yawp.

Yeah, yeah, right.

Yawp.

Come on, louder.

Yawp.

Oh, that’s a mouse.

Come on, louder.

Yawp.

God, boy, yell like a man.

Yawp!

There it is.

You see, you have a barbarian in you after all.

Now, you don’t get away that easy.

There’s a picture of Uncle Walt up there.

What does he remind you of?

Don’t think, answer.

Go on.

A madman.

What kind of madman?

Don’t think about it, answer again.

A crazy madman.

You can do better.

Free up your mind, use your imagination.

Say the first thing that pops into your head, even if it’s gibberish.

A sweaty-toothed madman.

Good God, boy, there’s a poet in you after all.

There, close your eyes.

Close your eyes, close them.

Now describe what you see.

I close my eyes.

Yes?

And this image floats beside me.

A sweaty-toothed madman.

A sweaty-toothed madman with a stare that pounds my brain.

oh, that’s excellent.

Now give him action.

Make him do something.

His hands reach out and choke me.

That’s it.

wonderful, wonderful.

And all the time he’s mumbling.

What’s he mumbling?

Mumbling truth.

Truth, like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold.