Tom Schulman, Leon Pownall, Robert Sean Leonard, Robin Williams - Dead Poets Society (”Understanding Poetry” Scene) lyrics

KEATING
Gentlemen, open your texts to page 21
Of this introduction mr perry
Will you read the opening paragraph of
The preface entitled "Understanding Poetry"?

NEIL "'Understanding Poetry, ' by Dr j evans
Pritchard, PhD to fully understand poetry
We must first be fluent with it's meter
Rhyme and figures of speech
Then ask two questions: 1) How artfully has
The objective of the poem
Been rendered and 2)
How important is that objective?
Question 1 rates
The poem's perfection question 2
Rates it's importance
And once these questions have been answered
Determining the poem's greatness
Becomes a relatively
Simple matter if the poem's score
For perfection is plotted on the
Horizontal of a graph and
It's importance is plotted on the vertical
Then calculating the total area
Of the poem yields
The measure of it's greatness a sonnet
By Byron might score high on
The vertical but only average
On the horizontal a Shakespearean sonnet
On the other hand, would
Score high both horizontally and vertically
Yielding a massive total area
Thereby revealing the poem to be truly
Great as you proceed through
The poetry in this book
Practice this rating method as your
Ability to evaluate poems in this
Matter grows, so will
So will your enjoyment and
Understanding of poetry"

KEATING


RICHARD: We shouldn't be doing this
KEATING:


McALLISTER: What the hell is going on here?

KEATING: I don't hear enough rips!

McALLISTER: Mr keating

KEATING mr mcAllister

McALLISTER
I'm sorry i - I didn't know you were here

KEATING i am

McALLISTER ah, so you are excuse me

KEATING keep ripping
Gentlemen! This is a battle a war and the
Casualties could be your hearts
And souls thank you, mr dalton armies
Of academics going forward
Measuring poetry no! We'll not have that
Here no more Mr j evans
Pritchard now, my class
You will learn to think for
Yourselves again you will learn
To savor words and language no
Matter what anybody tells you
Words and ideas
Can change the world i see that
Look in Mr pitt's eye, like
Nineteenth century literature has nothing
To do with
Going to business school or medical
School right? Maybe mr hopkins, you may
Agree with him, thinking "Yes
We should simply study our
Mr pritchard and learn our rhyme and meter
And go quietly about the business of
Achieving other ambitions" I have
A little secret for ya huddle up huddle up!

KEATING
We don't read and write poetry because
It's cute we read and write
Poetry because we are members of the
Human race and the human
Race is filled with passion
Medicine, law, business, engineering
These are all noble
Pursuit's, and necessary to sustain life
But poetry, beauty, romance, love
These are what we stay
Alive for to quote from Whitman: "O me
O 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? Answer: that you are
Here that life exists, and identity that
The powerful play goes on
And you may contribute a verse
That the powerful play
Goes on and you may contribute a verse

Keating what will your verse be?