Neil talked in low tones to Charlie and Knox in the dorm hall as the evening
parade of prebedtime activity went on around them. Boys moved about the
hallway in pajamas, carrying pillows under one arm and books under the other.
Neil threw his towel over his shoulder, patted Knox on the back, and headed
toward his room. He tossed the towel aside and noticed something on his desk
that wasn’t there before.
He hesitated momentarily, then picked up an old, well-worn poetry anthology.
He opened it and, inside the cover, written in longhand, was the name “J.
Keating.” Neil read aloud the inscription under the signature. “Dead Poets.” He
stretched out on his bed and began skimming the thin yellowed pages of the old
text. He read for about an hour, vaguely aware of the hallway sounds quieting
down, doors slamming shut, and lights being turned off. There goes Dr. Hager;
he’s still up, Neil thought, hearing the resident dorm marshal shuffling up and
down the hallway, making sure all was quiet. He seemed to stop right in front of
Neil’s closed door.
“Quiet,” Dr. Hager said aloud, shaking his head. “Too quiet.”
Several hours later, certain that everyone was deep in sleep, the boys met at
the gnarled old maple tree. They had bundled themselves in winter hats, coats,
and gloves, and a few of them had brought flashlights to guide the way.
“Gggrrr!” The sound of the school hunting-dog startled them as he sniffed his
way out of the bushes.
“Nice doggie,” Pitts said, stuffing some cookies in his mouth and leaving a
pile of them on the ground. “Let’s move it,” he hissed as the dog homed in on
the food.
“Good thinking, Pittsie,” Neil said as the boys crossed the campus under the
light of a sky glowing with stars.
“It’s cold,” Todd complained as they escaped the open, windblown campus
and moved through an eerie pine forest, looking for the cave. Charlie ran ahead
as the others trudged slowly in the cold.“We’re almost there,” Knox said as they reached the bank of the stream and
began searching for the cave that was supposed to exist somewhere among the
tree roots and brush.
“Yaa! I’m a dead poet!” Charlie shouted, suddenly popping out of nowhere.
He had found the cave.
“Ahh!” Meeks shrieked. “Eat it, Dalton,” Meeks said to Charlie, recovering
his composure.
“This is it, boys,” Charlie smiled. “We’re home!”
The boys crowded into the dark cave and spent several minutes gathering
sticks and wood, trying to light a fire. The fire came to life and warmed the
barren interior. The boys stood silently, as if in a holy sanctuary.
“I hereby reconvene the Welton Chapter of the Dead Poets Society,” Neil said
solemnly. “These meetings will be conducted by me and by the rest of the new
initiates now present. Todd Anderson, because he prefers not to read, will keep
minutes of the meetings.” Todd winced as Neil spoke, unhappy but unable to
speak up for himself.
“I will now read the traditional opening message from society member Henry
David Thoreau.” Neil opened the book that Keating had left him and read: “‘I
went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately.’” He skipped through
the text. “‘I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life!’”
“I’ll second that!” Charlie interrupted.
“‘To put to rout all that was not life,’” Neil continued, skipping again. “‘And
not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.’” There was a long silence.
“Pledge Overstreet,” Neil said.
Knox rose. Neil handed him the book. Knox found another page and read: “‘If
one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, he will meet with a
success unexpected in common hours.’ Yes!” Knox said, his eyes blazing. “I
want success with Chris!”
Charlie took the book from Knox. “Come on, man,” he said, making a face at
Knox, “this is serious.” Charlie cleared his throat.
“There’s the wonderful love of a beautiful maid,
And the love of a staunch, true man,
And the love of a baby that’s unafraid.
All have existed since time began.
But the most wonderful love,
the Love of all loves,ven greater than the love for Mother,
Is the infinite, tenderest, passionate love,
Of one dead drunk for another.”
“Author anonymous,” Charlie laughed as he handed the book to Pitts.
“‘Here lies my wife: here let her lie. Now she’s at rest … And so am I!’” Pitts
giggled. “John Dryden, 1631–1700. I never thought those guys had a sense of
humor!” he said.
Pitts handed the book to Todd while the boys laughed at his joke. Todd froze,
holding the book, and Neil quickly took it before the others noticed.
Charlie grabbed the book from Neil and read:
“Teach me to love? Go teach thyself more wit:
I chief professor am of it.
The god of love, If such a thing there be,
May learn to love from me.”
The boys “oohhed and aahhed” at Charlie’s alleged prowess. “Come on guys,
we gotta be serious,” Neil said.
Cameron took the book. “This is serious,” he said and began to read:
“We are the music makers
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lonely sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World losers and world forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world, forever, it seems.
With wonderful deathless ditties
We build up with world’s great cities,
And out of a fabulous story
We fashion an empire’s glory:
One man with a dream, at pleasure
Shall go forth and conquer a crown;
And three with a new song’s measure
Can trample an empire down.
We in the ages lying,In the buried past of the earth,
Built Nineveh with our sighing,
And Babel itself with our mirth.”
“Amen,” several boys uttered.
“Sshh!” hissed the others. Cameron continued:
“And o’erthrew them with prophesying
To the old of the new world’s worth;
For each age is a dream that is dying,
Or one that is coming to birth.”
Cameron stopped dramatically. “That was by Arthur O’Shaughnessy, 1844–
81.”
The boys sat quietly. Meeks took the book and leafed through the pages. “Hey,
this is great,” he said, and started reading seriously:
“Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul!”
“That was W. E. Henley, 1849–1903.”
“Come on, Meeks,” Pitts scoffed. “You?”
“What?” Meeks said, his look all surprise and innocence.
Knox flipped through the book next and suddenly moaned out loud, reading as
though to a vision of Chris in the cave. “‘How do I love thee? Let me count the
ways. I love thee to the depth …’”
Charlie grabbed the book. “Cool it already, Knox,” he growled.
The boys laughed. Neil took the book and read to himself for a minute. The
boys huddled around the fire that by now was growing dimmer.
“Sshh,” Neil said, reading deliberately,
“Come my friends,
’Tis not too late to seek a newer world....
for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset … and though
We are not now that strength which in old daysMoved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;—
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
“From ‘Ulysses,’ by Tennyson,” he concluded. The boys grew silent, touched
by Neil’s impassioned reading and Tennyson’s statement of purpose.
Pitts took the book. He started to pound out a congo rhythm as he read the
poem:
“Fat black bucks in a wine-barrel room,
Barrel-house kings, with feet unstable,
Sagged and reeled and pounded on the table,
Beat an empty barrel with the handle of a broom,
Hard as they were able,
Boom, boom, BOOM,
With a silk umbrella and the handle of a broom,
Boomlay, boomlay, boomlay, BOOM.
THEN I had religion, THEN I had a vision.
I could not turn from their revel in derision.
THEN I SAW THE CONGO, CREEPING THROUGH THE BLACK,
CUTTING THROUGH THE FOREST WITH A GOLDEN TRACK....”
As Pitts continued to read, the boys were entranced by the compelling rhythm
of the poem. They danced and clowned to the beat, jumping and whooping
around. Their gestures grew steadily wilder and more ridiculous and they began
to make jungle noises, beating their legs and heads. Pitts continued reading as
Charlie led the group, dancing and howling, out of the cave and into the night.
They danced wildly in the forest, swaying with the tall trees and the howling
wind.
The fire in the cave went out and the forest turned pitch black. The boys
stopped dancing, and, as soon as they did, they started to shiver, partly from the
cold and partly from the exhilaration they felt from having let their imaginations
run free.
“We’d better get going,” Charlie said. “Before you know it, we’ll have to be in
class.”
They snaked through the woods to a clearing that led back to the Welton
campus. “Back to reality,” Pitts said as they stood facing the campus.“Or something,” Neil sighed. They ran quietly to their dorm, slipped out the
twig that held the rear door open, and tiptoed to their rooms.
The next day several of the night revelers yawned as they sat in Mr. Keating’s
class. Keating, however, paced vigorously back and forth in front of the room.
“A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use …” He
snapped his fingers and pointed to a boy.
“Morose?”
“Good!” Keating said with a smile. “Language was invented for one reason,
boys—” He snapped his fingers again and pointed to Neil.
“To communicate?”
“No,” Keating said. “To woo women. And, in that endeavor, laziness will not
do. It also won’t do in your essays.”
The class laughed. Keating closed his book, then walked to the front of the
room and raised a map that had covered the blackboard. On the board was a
quotation. Keating read it aloud to the class:
“Creeds and schools in abeyance, I permit to speak at every hazard,
Nature without check with original energy …”
“Uncle Walt again,” he said. “Ah, but the difficulty of ignoring those creeds
and schools, conditioned as we are by our parents, our traditions, by the modern
age. How do we, like Walt, permit our own true natures to speak? How do we
strip ourselves of prejudices, habits, influences? The answer, my dear lads, is
that we must constantly endeavor to find a new point of view.” The boys listened
intently. Then suddenly Keating leaped up on his desk. “Why do I stand here?”
he asked.
“To feel taller?” Charlie suggested.
“I stand on my desk to remind myself that we must constantly force ourselves
to look at things differently. The world looks different from up here. If you don’t
believe it, stand up here and try it. All of you. Take turns.”
Keating jumped off. All of the boys, except for Todd Anderson, walked to the
front of the room, and, a few at a time, took turns standing on Keating’s desk.
Keating strolled up and down the aisles expectantly as he watched them.
“If you’re sure about something,” he said as they slowly returned to their
seats, “force yourself to think about it another way, even if you know it’s wrong
or silly. When you read, don’t consider only what the author thinks, but take time
to consider what you think.“You must strive to find your own voice, boys, and 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.’ Why be resigned to that? Risk walking new ground. Now
…” Keating walked to the door as all eyes followed him intently. He looked at
the class, then flashed the room lights on and off over and over again, crying out
a noise that sounded like crashing thunder. “In addition to your essays,” he said
after this boisterous demonstration, “I want each of you to write a poem—
something of your own—to be delivered aloud in class. See you Monday.”
With that he walked out of the room. The class sat mute and baffled by their
eccentric teacher. After a moment, Keating popped his head back in, grinning
impishly. “And don’t think I don’t know this assignment scares you to death, Mr.
Anderson, you mole.” Keating held out his hand and pretended to send lightning
bolts at Todd. The class laughed nervously, somewhat embarrassed for Todd,
who forced out a hint of a smile.
School ended early on Friday, and the boys left Keating’s class, happy to have
an afternoon off.
“Let’s go up to the bell tower and work on that crystal radio antenna,” Pitts
said to Meeks as they walked across campus. “Radio Free America!”
“Sure,” Meeks said. They walked past crowds waiting eagerly for the
mailboxes to be filled. A group of boys played lacrosse on the green, and in the
distance, Mr. Nolan called out orders to the Welton crew team practicing at the
lake.
Knox dropped his books into the basket of his bicycle and cruised around the
campus. He approached the Welton gates, checked over his shoulder to make
sure he had not been seen, and pedaled furiously out the gates, over the country-
side, and into Welton village.
Breathing deeply, he looked around for signs of anyone from Welton
Academy as he pedaled over to Ridgeway High School. He stopped at a fence,
watching as students boarded three parked buses. Uniformed members of the
marching band, practicing their drum rolls and scales, hopped on the first bus.
Well-padded football players pushed and shoved their way onto the second bus.
Boarding the third bus was a bunch of giggling and singing cheerleaders,
including Chris Noel.
Knox stood at the fence watching her. He saw her rush up to Chet, who was
carrying his football gear, and kiss him on the lips. Chet pulled her to him, and
she giggled, then ran and climbed into the cheerleaders’ bus.
Knox got on his bike and slowly pedaled back to Welton. Ever since thedinner at the Danburrys’, he’d fantasized about seeing Chris Noel again. But not
like this—not in a passionate embrace with Chet Danburry. Knox wondered,
could he really come up with the words to make Chris swoon over him?
Later that afternoon, Todd sat on his bed, one elbow leaning on a pad of paper.
He started to write something, scratched it out, ripped off the page, and threw it
in the trash. He covered his face in frustration just as Neil came flying through
the door.
Neil dropped his books on his desk, his face flushed with excitement. “I’ve
found it!” he cried.
“Found what?” Todd asked.
“What I want to do! Right now. What’s really inside of me.” He handed Todd
a piece of paper.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Todd read. “What is it?”
“A play, dummy.”
“I know that,” Todd visibly winced. “What’s it got to do with you?”
“They’re putting it on at Henley Hall. See: ‘Open Tryouts.’”
“So?” Todd said.
“So I’m gonna act!” Neil shouted, jumping onto his bed. “Ever since I can
remember I’ve wanted to try it. Last summer I even tried to go to summer stock
auditions, but of course my father wouldn’t let me.”
“And now he will?” Todd asked, raising his eyebrow.
“Hell, no, but that’s not the point. The point is that for the first time in my
whole life I know what I want, and for the first time I’m gonna do it whether my
father wants me to or not! Carpe diem, Todd!”
Neil picked up the play and read a couple of lines. He beamed, clenching his
fist in the air with joy.
“Neil, how are you gonna be in a play if your father won’t let you?” Todd
pressed.
“First I gotta get the part; then I’ll worry about that.”
“Won’t he kill you if you don’t let him know you’re auditioning?”
“As far as I’m concerned,” Neil said, “he won’t have to know about any of it.”
“Come on, you know that’s impossible,” Todd said.
“Bull! Nothing’s impossible,” Neil said with a grin.
“Why don’t you ask him first? Maybe he’ll say yes,” Todd suggested.
“That’s a laugh,” Neil snickered. “If I don’t ask, at least I won’t be disobeying
him.”
“But if he said no before, then …” Todd began.“Whose side are you on, anyway? I haven’t even gotten the part yet. Can’t I
even enjoy the idea for a little while?”
“Sorry,” Todd said, turning back to his work. Neil sat on his bed and started to
read the play.
“By the way, there’s a meeting this afternoon,” Neil said. “You coming?”
“I guess,” Todd said as he grimaced.
Neil put down the play and looked over at his roommate. “None of what Mr.
Keating has to say means anything to you, does it?” he asked, incredulous.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Todd was defensive.
“Being in the club means being stirred up by things. You look about as stirred
up as a cesspool.”
“You want me out? Is that what you’re saying?” Todd said angrily.
“No,” Neil said softly. “I want you in. But it means you gotta do something.
Not just say you’re in.”
Todd turned angrily. “Listen, Neil, I appreciate your interest in me but I’m not
like you,” he insisted. “When you say things, people pay attention. People follow
you. I’m not like that!”
“Why not? Don’t you think you could be?” Neil pressed.
“No!” Todd shouted. “Oh, I don’t know. I’ll probably never know. The point
is, there’s nothing you can do about it, so butt out, all right? I can take care of
myself just fine, all right?”
“Er, no …” Neil said.
“No?” Todd looked astonished. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”
Neil shrugged matter-of-factly and repeated, “No. I’m not going to butt out.”
Neil opened his play and began to read again. Todd just sat and stared at him.
“Okay,” Todd said, defeated. “I’ll go.”
“Good.” Neil smiled and continued reading the play.
