"We don´t read and write poetry because it is cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race, and the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering... these are noble pursuits to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love... these are what we stay alive for."
Professor Keating, Dead Poets´ Society
Professor Keating, Dead Poets´ Society
I wish there were more literature teachers like Keating, someone who used poetry to inspire their students to seize the day, carpe diem, to suck out all the marrow of life, as Thoreau put it. He talked to these teenagers about Whitman, Byron, Tennyson, Shakespeare... encouraging them to struggle to make their dreams come true.
Poems are made of the deepest secrets of the soul that need to come out. They tell about identity, discovery, survival, mortality, feelings, hopes, loss... things of primary interest to everybody in this uncertain world.
I'm glad the world has engineers as well as poets. We can all live happily together. You can create the things we need while we create entertainment for you.
ReplyDeleteRight! What do you think? Are poets more rational than the sentimentalism of engineers?
DeleteYou are really similar. Both poetry and engineering are creative arts which can produce beauty, something everybody longs for in this (so often) ugly world.
DeleteI want to believe that teachers like Keating really exist and this isn´t only fiction. I am sure there are lots of teachers who love their job and inspire their students. How important their role is and how underestimated they are so often...
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that we have to accomplish an impossible task sometimes. With inadequate and ineffective tools, we are expected to reach goals which can´t be achieved.
DeleteWhat a fabulous film!Parents play an important role as models in society to their children. Children and teenagers look to them for guidance because they need it. But this power shoulden't be used as weapons to control their dreams.
ReplyDelete"Carpe Diem" is a Latin phrase that translates into English as "seize the day", get up and do something, don't let life pass you by. As a very appropriate Scottish proverb puts it,
ReplyDeleteBe happy while you're living,
For you're a long time dead.
I also agree with you that poetry is a must. I think, it has always been despised as something useless. If people read more poetry, they would follow their hearts more when acting, and things would be so different...
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, when I was a student I hadn´t a teacher like Keating. Films like this (or Les Choristes -The Chorus-) are a little eutopic and predictable. But I want to believe that there are people like this character in schools, universities ... I´ll keep looking for Keating while I´m "seizing the day"
ReplyDeleteNice blog!!!