"We don't read and write poetry because it's 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 and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, 'O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless--of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?' Answer. That you are here--that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?" Who said it? Watching Dead Poets Society with juniors. Robin Williams as Prof. John Keating. The play's the thing. Our dynamic Performing Arts teacher came to senior class and gave us ALL some new tools for accessing the text. Gift of the Magi and Creative Writing with the 10th graders. They are writing (you guessed it) parables.