Dead Poet's Society - Carpe DiemCaption WindowWell, come on!  Let’s go. Let’s go, guys. “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”. Now let me dispel a few rumors, so they don’t fester into facts. Yes, I, too, attended Hell-ton and have survived. And, no, at that time I was not the mental giant you see before you. I was the intellectual equivalent of a 98-pound weakling. I would go to the beach, and people would kick copies of Byron in my face. Now… Mr. Pitts? That’s a rather unfortunate name. Mr. Pitts, where are you? Mr. Pitts, will you open your hymnal to page 542? Read the first stanza of the poem you find there. ---“To the Virgins to Make Much of Time”? ---Yes. That’s the one. ---Somewhat appropriate, isn’t it? ---“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old time is still a-flying… and this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying.” Thank you, Mr. Pitts. “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.” The Latin term for that sentiment is carpe diem. Now who knows what that means? ---Carpe diem. That’s seize the day. ---Very good, Mr… ---Meeks. Meeks. Another unusual name. Seize the day. “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.” ---Why does the writer use these lines? ---Because he’s in a hurry. No! Ding! Thank you for playing anyway. Because we are food for worms, lads. Because, believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, turn cold, and die. I would like you to step forward over here and peruse some of the faces from the past. You’ve walked past them many times, but I don’t think you’ve really looked at them. They’re not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts, full of hormones just like you. Invincible just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they’re destined for great things just like many of you. Their eyes are full of hope just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because you see, gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen. Do you hear it? Carpe. Hear it? Carpe. Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.
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Carpe diem. Seize the day.
Dead Poets Society
Dead Poets Society is a 1989 film starring Robin Williams and directed by Peter Weir. Set in 1959 at a conservative and aristocratic school, it tells the story of an English teacher who inspires his students to change their lives of conformity through his teaching of poetry and literature.
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