The students quickly quiet down as Keating emerges from the other room,
whistling the 1812 Overture. He walks up the length of the classroom and
out the door without a word. The students look around at one another,
uncertain of what to do. Keating pokes his head back in the doorway.
KEATING
Well come on.
He gestures them to follow and the students, after some hesitation, grab
their books and follow Keating out into the main entranceway.
INT. ENTRANCEWAY - DAY
Keating stands before the school's trophy cabinets and waits until all
the boys arrive.
KEATING
"Oh Captain, My Captain" who knows where
that comes from?
Todd looks up as if he knows the answer, but says nothing. Spaz blows his
nose a little too close to Meeks for his liking.
KEATING
Not a clue? It's from a poem by Walt
Whitman about Mr. Abraham Lincoln. Now in
this class you can call me Mr. Keating. Or,
if you're slightly more daring, Oh Captain,
My Captain.
The students laugh slightly.
KEATING
Now let me dispel a few rumors so they
don't fester into facts. Yes, I too
attended Hell-ton and survived. And no,
at that time I was not the mental giant
you see before you. I was the intellectual
equivalent of a ninety-eight pound
weakling. I would go to the beach and
people would kick copies of Byron in my
face.
The boys laugh once again, while Cameron, obviously trying to write all
this down, looks around confusedly. Keating looks down at papers in his
hand.
KEATING
Now, Mr… Pitts. That's a rather
unfortunate name. Mr. Pitts, where are
you?
Pitts raises his hand while everyone around him snickers.
KEATING
Mr. Pitts, would you open your hymnal to page 542 and read the first
stanza of the poem you find there?
PITTS
"To the virgins, to make much of time"?
KEATING
Yes, that's the one. Somewhat appropriate,
isn't it.
PITTS
"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old
time is still a flying, and this same
flower that smiles today, tomorrow will
be dying."
KEATING
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?
Meeks immediately puts his hand up.
MEEKS
Carpe Diem. That's "seize the day."
KEATING
Very good, Mr.-
MEEKS
Meeks.
KEATING
Meeks. Another unusual name. Seize the
day. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.
Why does the writer use these lines?
CHARLIE
Because he's in a hurry.
KEATING
No, ding!
Keating slams his hand down on an imaginary buzzer.
KEATING
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.
Keating turns towards the trophy cases, filled with trophies, footballs,
and team pictures.
KEATING
Now 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. I don't think you've really looked
at them.
The students slowly gather round the cases and Keating moves behind them.
KEATING
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 gentlmen, 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.
The boys lean in and Keating hovers over Cameron's shoulder.
KEATING
(whispering in a gruff voice)
Carpe.
Cameron looks over his shoulder with an aggravated expression on his face.
KEATING
Hear it?
(whispering again)
Carpe. Carpe Diem. Seize the day boys,
make your lives extraordinary.
The boys stare at the faces in the cabinet in silence.
EXT. SCHOOL STEPS - DAY
