Eternal Rest Grant Unto Him, O Lord: Robin Williams, 1951-2014

Robin Williams as John Keating, Dead Poets' Society, 1989.

In honor of Robin Williams, I chose to read Walt Whitman’s “O Captain, My Captain” while listening to the second movement of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto (featured in The Dead Poets’ Society) in the evening twilight. We shall always cherish your memory, Robin Williams, and we miss you dearly!

"O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up— for you the flag is flung — for you the bugle’ trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths — for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning:

Here Captain! dear father! This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck You’ve fallen cold and dead.”

That being said, in the words of my friend Aimee, depression sucks. I pray for the repose of the soul of Robin Williams tonight, as well as for his family, but please know that if you need help, there is no shame in asking. Being tough doesn’t mean you never ask for help, it’s knowing when you need help and having the courage to ask for it.

In the words of Walt 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."