PART 5

CAMERON
What are you guys doing? I'm sure-- You see this chemistry- Hey, give me-- Neil, give me-- Don't be immature. Come on. I need my-

CHARLIE
Give it to me! Give it to me!

NEIL
Charlie, help me.

COACH
Okay, everybody on the bus. Let's go, boys. Come on, let's go. On the bus, boys. Now!

KEATING
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.

KEATING
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.

KEATING
You know what to do, Pitts.

PITTS
"Oh to struggle against great odds. To meet enemies undaunted."

KEATING
Sounds to me like you're daunted. Say it again like you're undaunted.

PITTS
"Oh to struggle against great odds. To meet enemies undaunted."

KEATING
Now go on.

KEATING
Yes! Next.

BOY 1
"To be a sailor of the world, bound for all ports."

KEATING
Next. Louder!

BOY 2
"Oh, I live to be the ruler of life, not a slave."

BOY 3
"To mount the scaffolds. To advance to the muzzle of guns with perfect nonchalance."

KEATING
Come on, Meeks! Listen to the music.

MEEKS
"To dance, clap hands, exalt, shout, skip, roll on, float on."

KEATING
Yes!

HOPKINS
"Oh, to have life henceforth the poem of new joys."

KEATING
Oh! Boo! Come on, Charlie, let it fill your soul!

CHARLIE
"To indeed be a god!"

NEIL
Charlie, I got the part! I'm gonna play Puck! I'm gonna play Puck!

MEEKS
What did he say?

PITTS
Puck?

NEIL
That's the main part.

KNOX
Great, Neil.

NEIL
Charlie, I got it!

CHARLIE
Congratulations. Good for you, Neil. Good for you.

NEIL
Okay, okay, okay, okay.

TODD
Neil, how are you gonna do this?

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

TODD
You're not gonna write it.

NEIL
Oh yes, I am.

TODD
Oh, Neil. Neil, you're crazy.

NEIL
Okay. "I am writing to you on behalf of my son Neil Perry." This is great.

KNOX
"To Chris."

BOY 1
Who's Chris?

BOY 2
Mmm, Chris.

KNOX
I see a sweetness in her smile. Blight light shines from her eyes. But life is complete; contentment is mine, Just knowing that... just knowing that she's alive.

KNOX
Sorry, Captain. It's stupid.

KEATING
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.

HOPKINS
"The cat sat on the mat."

KEATING
Congratulations, Mr. Hopkins. Yours is 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. Sometimes 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?

KEATING
Mr. Anderson, I see you sitting there in agony. Come on, Todd, step up. Let's put you out of your misery.

TODD
I, I didn't do it. I didn't write a poem.

KEATING
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.

KEATING
"I sound my barbaric yawp 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.

KEATING
You gotta get in "yawping" stance.

TODD
A yawp.

KEATING
No, not just a yawp. A barbaric yawp.

TODD
Yawp.

KEATING
Come on, louder.

TODD
Yawp.

KEATING
No, that's a mouse. Come on. Louder.

TODD
Yawp.

KEATING
Oh, good God, boy. Yell like a man!

TODD
Yawp!

KEATING
There it is. You see, you have a barbarian in you, after all. Now, you don't get away that easy.

KEATING
The picture of Uncle Walt up there. What does he remind you of? Don't think. Answer. Go on.

TODD
A m-m-madman.

KEATING
What kind of madman? Don't think about it. Just answer again.

TODD
A c-crazy madman.

KEATING
No, you can do better than that. Free up your mind. Use your imagination. Say the first thing that pops into your head, even if it's total gibberish. Go on, go on.

TODD
Uh, uh, a sweaty-toothed madman.

KEATING
Good God, boy, there's a poet in you, after all. There, close your eyes. Close your eyes. Close 'em. Now, describe what you see.

TODD
Uh, I-I close my eyes.

KEATING
Yes?

TODD
Uh, and this image floats beside me.

KEATING
A sweaty-toothed madman?

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

KEATING
Oh, that's excellent. Now, give him action. Make him do something.

TODD
H-His hands reach out and choke me.

KEATING
That's it. Wonderful. Wonderful.

TODD
And, and all the time he's mumbling.

KEATING
What's he mumbling?

TODD
M-Mumbling, "Truth. Truth is like, like a blanket that always leaves your feet cold."

KEATING
Forget them, forget them. Stay with the blanket. Tell me about that blanket.

TODD
Y-Y-Y-You push it, stretch it, it'll never be enough. You kick at it, beat it, it'll never cover any of us. From the moment we enter crying to the moment we leave dying, it will just cover your face as you wail and cry and scream.

KEATING
Don't you forget this.

CHARLIE
Attaboy, Pittsie, inhale deeply.

MEEKS
My dad collects a lot of pipes.

CHARLIE
Really? Mine's got thirty.

PITTS
Your parents collect pipes? Oh, that's really interesting.

CHARLIE
Come on, Knox. Join in.

MEEKS
Yeah, Knox, we're from the government. We're here to help, man.

CHARLIE
What's wrong?

PITTS
It's Chris. Here's a picture of Chris for you.

MEEKS
Smoke that. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

KNOX
That's not funny.

CHARLIE
Knock it off. Smoke your pipes.