♕ |[47]| We didn't just read poetry, we let it drip from our tongues like honey

[had_not_lived]

[Anonymous Voice Post is Anonymous!]

[There's a pause before he begins speaking in a stage whisper theoretically designed to disguise his voice. If you know him (or his brother, for that matter,) it might be obvious; but really, it's for effect. Don't stifle his flair for the dramatic okay.]

I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. To put to rout all that was not life, and not, when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived.

We of the Dead Poets believe that, although our academic pursuits are a matter of great importance, such work is not what we live for; poetry, passion, the appreciation of beauty, are what keep us from being bound to lives of quiet desperation.

So tell me, gentlemen, ladies-- can you keep a secret?


[In addition, one might find here and there random bits of poetry-- mostly of the Romantic era-- chalked unobtrusively on walls and sidewalks, occasionally 'signed' with the initials DPS, or the words Dead Poets Society.

Any student of any school who expresses interest in this post-- anyone he can identify, anyway-- will be slipped a piece of paper at some point with a few lines of Coleridge and a time tomorrow evening written on it.]



[ooc; All replies will be text or the same 'anonymous' whisper >3 Neil's AU bio is over hyar, along with all my others. ^_^ a-as always please don't fourth-wall the Dead Poets :X Todd will be posting re: the meeting tomorrow!]

Comments

[misterblackbird.livejournal.com]

Am I expected to recite some, then, as the password?

[had_not_lived]

Think of it as something less formal and more important. Anyone can recite a password. Not everyone can speak of poetry.

[misterblackbird.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. So I'm supposed to speak of poetry, then?

[had_not_lived]

Well, I certainly can't force you.

[misterblackbird.livejournal.com]

But what am I supposed to say?

[had_not_lived]

How should I know?

[misterblackbird.livejournal.com]

Well, I can say that I like Byron more than Tennyson, certainly.

[had_not_lived]

Do you? I'm fond of them both, myself. Have you a favorite poem?

[misterblackbird.livejournal.com]

Tennyson seems too dry to me. He's all rhyme and nothing else.

I like a lot of poems, but I'm not sure I have one favourite.

[had_not_lived]

I'm partial to Ulysses.

[misterblackbird.livejournal.com]

If it's the one I'm thinking of, I suppose that one is all right.

[had_not_lived]

What do you like?

[misterblackbird.livejournal.com]

I suppose, it isn't Byron, but I do like "A Dream Within a Dream"--that's Poe, but I still like it.

[had_not_lived]

I'm not sure I'm familiar with it. I like Poe well enough, what I know of him.

[misterblackbird.livejournal.com]

You don't know that much? Maybe that should be the poem I recite.

[had_not_lived]

I would be glad to hear it.

[misterblackbird.livejournal.com]

And will that let me in on the secret?

[had_not_lived]

The secret shouldn't be your sole motivation in speaking poetry; if you don't care for the poetry, there's no reason for me to share my secret.

[misterblackbird.livejournal.com]

But it's a secret about poetry got to by poetry. How can I not wonder?

[had_not_lived]

You should wonder, you should burn to know; but the way to clarity is not by direct pursuit, in this case. Think of this as my burning Heaven and dousing Hell so you do not act out of greed for a reward or fear of punishment, but instead out of love.

Of poetry, of course.

[misterblackbird.livejournal.com]

Now you've just made me wonder more.

it's a paraphrased Sufi story. I think, at least XD Rabi'a

[had_not_lived]

I take my duties very seriously.

[misterblackbird.livejournal.com]

Clearly, you must.

[had_not_lived]

Anything less would be an affront to our traditions.

[misterblackbird.livejournal.com]

I shall have to prove my devotion worthy of your traditions, then.