DPS: Poetrusic by Charles Dalton
Throughout Dead Poets Society, many find it easy to dismiss Charlie as an arrogant and reckless character, however Poetrusic proves him to be much more. Charlie is an easy dismissal as the comic relief and it isn’t hard to see why; he’s arrogant and has a tendency to slack off.
Poetrusic is a musical poem written by Charlie himself. The piece starts as a harsh cluttering of notes accompanied by the first line of the poem. It continues in a similar manner; the piece drawing discontent from the other Poets. However, in contrast to the blaring, unharmonious noise, Charlie follows with a sweet melody. His poem, accompanied by saxophone, introduces Charlie as someone who values creativity and life. Poetrusic brings an entirely new perspective to his character as we can see him truly putting thought and depth into his poem. Not only does his original poem reflect his raise in maturity, but the actual words included speak for themselves.
“Laughing, crying, tumbling, mumbling” refers to the duality of life and the different forms it can take. It also references four points throughout the film. Laughing being the group’s dynamic and positivity, crying symbolising the death of Neil, tumbling characterises how the Dead Poet’s dynamic slowly falls apart, and mumbling referring to the silencing of freedom and creativity.
“Chaos screaming, chaos dreaming” refers to a world that is both messy yet neat, much like Charlie himself. Charlie is a disorganised yet attentive character who continues to grow and develop as the film plays out. Both screaming and dreaming contradict each other, much like Charlie’s different personas he takes on. Screaming refers to Charlie’s lack of impulse control, resulting in moments such as the phone call from God whereas dreaming refers to moments like this one, where he is showing a more vulnerable and artistic side to himself.
The repeated line “gotta do more, gotta be more” has a double meaning in my head. One side to this line reads as Charlie reflecting on the pressures he experiences throughout the film, often being told he needs to settle down or to grow up. However, the other side refers to Charlie finally discovering his sense of self and expressing it by saying he needs to do more than waste time, and he needs to be more than a casual student.
Overall, this scene really shows Charlie’s maturity and artistic personality, which is something that isn’t shown often. I think this scene is overlooked as it demonstrates Charlie showing both his friends and himself that he is a proud person with aspirations.
TLDR: Charlie’s poem shows his love for artistic freedom and his ability to take pride in himself.
