This sounds rather idyllic! I am not a joiner, but the few societies I sampled at Cambridge seemed full of over-competitive posh people, all vying to be considered important. I decided it wasn’t a good use of my leisure time, and devoted myself to drinking cheap wine instead.
A lovely reminiscence and informative, too. And how reassuring for this foreigner to know that there are at least a few lovers of poetry amidst the Hooray Henrys!
I had the same reaction to the portrait of Donne. In my head he was scowling and old, but in the portrait, he reminds me of Errol Flynn in Robin Hood. That made me very happy as did the entire post.
Yes, I remember the Kurt Vonnegut piece! But I don't remember the poetry aspect that you wrote about here. Loved this piece even though it makes me realise the stress of student life at these high-fly universities and the competitiveness and hierarchy. The impressive library made me wonder the university libraries I've seen in my life... haahahahahaha some leave one a lot to desire in terms of style, architecture, design. But at least they have books. Great piece, as always Jeffrey!
Thank you for your kind comment! Yes, books are the main thing in a library. The library I showed here is the Oxford Union library (for my sins, I sat on its book acquisition committee for a while—again, because no one else wanted to). The main university libraries are very grand indeed, especially the Bodleian, of course.
I've been reading about the Bodleian, there's an exhibition I'd like to see and then a friend got me a Bodleian notebook and it was so out of the blue and random and now you mention it. I need to sort a trip out! Btw I don't want to hear because no one else wanted to.... what's wrong with these people? Hahahahaha Thank you for sharing this anecdotes. No one is jealous! No one... :)
Jeffrey, your definition of a life well-lived! And you may know my love a good recorded essay. This one is wonderful.
I reached out to the poet whose book I reviewed recently. I had known him long ago. He was about to be married. His son, a child back then, had bought the home next to his. He was playing gigs with a band. And among our catchup, he wrote, I live a life of poetry, rock and roll, and meaningful relationships. What’s not to love? Your words made me think of this and what it means to live enriched by words.
Love this, Jeffrey. There’s something so special about those university years and the way we can engage with these literary spirits of today and the past in all that time we spend in libraries and organising events for the few interested. I say this as my university’s former Literary Society president. I recall organising for a poet to come for a visit from NYC. It was such a huge ordeal for me and my co-president and in the end about ten students showed up 😂 but it was still so meaningful and one of the best memories from school.
Great piece. We must have been contemporaries and as a Dorset grammar school girl at a small, overlooked college I was constantly aware of not being in any of the right societies with all those toffs. But I still claim it as the most extraordinary, exciting and life changing three years of my life.
Thank you, Sarah. We probably walked past each other on Broad Street!
My college, Hertford, was mostly toff-free, as in those days it was pioneering in its way of increasing the intake from state schools like mine. For the most part, I enjoyed my time there.
I wish that I had discovered OUPS when I was there in the 80s. I skipped the Freshers Fair and missed out on that aspect of Oxford. I also never went to Harcourt Arboretum, which I finally visited last week to see the bluebells in the woods. I only saw six people the whole time I was there (on a weekday), even though it is accessible by bus from Oxford. The rhododendrons and azaleas were abundant as well.
Harcourt might not have been open to the public in the 1980s. I knew about Wytham Woods but thought that only researchers could go there. Now you can get a permit to enter, so I plan to check it out when the paths are not so muddy.
Oxford University has, speaking from Canada, a reputation for being a university of letters, rather than of sciences. If someone has a degree or is a Fellow of Oxford, I tend to assume that person studies history or linguistics or anthropology or some other study involving language and/or the humans who use language. I have always wondered if there was a science department or a medical school hidden away somewhere at Oxford. In Canada, a Fellow is a physician or surgeon in training who is nearing completion of their field of specialty.
Poetry is a very esoteric field. I know a few authors personally, but no poets. I tend to think poetic writing is a more difficult discipline than prose writing.
There's certainly a history of science at Oxford: Stephen Hawking studied there, as did Tim Berners-Lee and Dorothy Hodgkin, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1964 for her crystallographic study of penicillin and vitamin B12.
But yes, the reputation of the place tends to focus on philosophy, law, politics, etc.
Ah, you see, I know perfectly well who Stephen Hawking was, but the fact he studied at Oxford slid away from my memory because I don't associate Oxford with science (I do associate Cambridge with science, probably because of Watson and Crick). Are some colleges at Oxford more associated with the sciences than others?
Most colleges will offer places in sciences , which are mostly taught by the University. I'm sure some colleges have particular strengths in science, but those probably ebb and flow over the years.
Ah, lovely! I saw your Oxford poetry titles hit my inbox around the time we were wrapping up the semester, and saved them to savor in slow time. Very glad I did. I used to come across the names of Oxford and Cambridge in books or author bios (certainly C.S. Lewis), and those words were my whole idea of university. I looked them up in our encyclopedia and sighed wonderingly: How did a person get to such places? They were Narnia to me in the U.S. northwest. No one in my family had been east of Chicago for a few generations. So I read your essay with my old dreams kindling. Of course, college in my home state was fine, but it wasn’t Narnia. We had a poetry annual, and I was thrilled to publish a poem in it. My, those days!
Gerard Manley Hopkins was also at Oxford - Baliol College - and described Oxford in his poetry too. Now that I think about it, it’s rather extraordinary given that Roman Catholics were only allowed to attend university in Britain from the nineteenth century.
After reading your fascinating post, I looked him up. Apparently he converted while at Oxford, so presumably the education laws had by that point changed. Must find out more. But yes - a gem for Oxford.
It is something special, indeed, when you find your 'tribe', even if it is fleeting. I was amused that the after-reading shenanigans involved ribbing other non-present poets! Now, there, there, boys and girls. 😂
Jeffrey, as always, you wear your modesty charmingly. You do a wonderful job picturing the backwater poetry resides as in the world of movers and shakers -- and Shelley notwithstanding, poetry might house different parliaments, but in that world you deftly discounted, they were rarely in session. The good news on both sides of the pond, I think, is that poetry in recent decades has risen to a relative high-water mark in practice and popularity, which is probably only 5 feet above sea level. :)
Thank you, Jay. I really appreciate your comment. And I'm glad to hear that poetry is keeping its head above water! Your remark makes me think of Shelley's "Ozmandias," that "King of Kings" and his ruined statute (and vain boasts):
This sounds rather idyllic! I am not a joiner, but the few societies I sampled at Cambridge seemed full of over-competitive posh people, all vying to be considered important. I decided it wasn’t a good use of my leisure time, and devoted myself to drinking cheap wine instead.
😂
I absolutely recognise the types you mention. Luckily, they gave the poetry society a miss.
Ugh, I wish I'd thought of finding a poetry society! The pottery society folk seemed nice, I must admit, but I wasn't sure about all that clay dust.
A lovely reminiscence and informative, too. And how reassuring for this foreigner to know that there are at least a few lovers of poetry amidst the Hooray Henrys!
Thanks. Yes, there are a few poetry lovers amongst the dreaming spires!
I refuse to believe that is John Donne - that is not at all how he looks in my head.
Another enjoyable essay, Jeffrey. It made me laugh, and - having never heard of Hooray Henrys - I learned a new term, too.
Thank you, jodi! I think this is the portrait I first saw of Donne: https://www.hertford.ox.ac.uk/associate/john-donne-1572-1631
It captures the rakish side of his nature rather than the theological one.
It was only years late that I came across his statue at the Monument in London: https://images.app.goo.gl/NL1qu1yFxxDt1jq88 Which I rather like.
Jeffrey and jodi,
I had the same reaction to the portrait of Donne. In my head he was scowling and old, but in the portrait, he reminds me of Errol Flynn in Robin Hood. That made me very happy as did the entire post.
😂 Yes, Errol Flynn! That makes sense, now that you say it.
I'm glad you enjoyed the essay, David.
Yes, I remember the Kurt Vonnegut piece! But I don't remember the poetry aspect that you wrote about here. Loved this piece even though it makes me realise the stress of student life at these high-fly universities and the competitiveness and hierarchy. The impressive library made me wonder the university libraries I've seen in my life... haahahahahaha some leave one a lot to desire in terms of style, architecture, design. But at least they have books. Great piece, as always Jeffrey!
Thank you for your kind comment! Yes, books are the main thing in a library. The library I showed here is the Oxford Union library (for my sins, I sat on its book acquisition committee for a while—again, because no one else wanted to). The main university libraries are very grand indeed, especially the Bodleian, of course.
I've been reading about the Bodleian, there's an exhibition I'd like to see and then a friend got me a Bodleian notebook and it was so out of the blue and random and now you mention it. I need to sort a trip out! Btw I don't want to hear because no one else wanted to.... what's wrong with these people? Hahahahaha Thank you for sharing this anecdotes. No one is jealous! No one... :)
😂What's wrong with them? Nothing; they just had too many choices. The curse of privilege...
And I hope you get to see that exhibition!
Thank you!
A kennedy smith wrote about it in her stack, it's notes from archives, about editing... how exciting... I'm not selling it. https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/cut#:~:text=About%20the%20exhibition&text=The%20exhibition%20offers%20a%20peek,reveal%20little%2Dknown%20literary%20revelations.
Thanks! I hope to visit Oxford next month, and maybe I'll get the chance to see it.
A very interesting post, Jeffrey.
I found your thoughts on some people being more concerned with money, than innovation and invention very interesting.
Thank you for reading and commenting, Michael!
Jeffrey, your definition of a life well-lived! And you may know my love a good recorded essay. This one is wonderful.
I reached out to the poet whose book I reviewed recently. I had known him long ago. He was about to be married. His son, a child back then, had bought the home next to his. He was playing gigs with a band. And among our catchup, he wrote, I live a life of poetry, rock and roll, and meaningful relationships. What’s not to love? Your words made me think of this and what it means to live enriched by words.
To continuing to look to the stars of poetry. ⭐️
Thank you, Holly! That's a lovely anecdote.
And thank you for your beautiful writing which continues to enrich all of your readers' lives.
Love this, Jeffrey. There’s something so special about those university years and the way we can engage with these literary spirits of today and the past in all that time we spend in libraries and organising events for the few interested. I say this as my university’s former Literary Society president. I recall organising for a poet to come for a visit from NYC. It was such a huge ordeal for me and my co-president and in the end about ten students showed up 😂 but it was still so meaningful and one of the best memories from school.
Thank you, Kate! Ten isn't a bad audience... 🙂Yes, I feel I was lucky to have the chance to organise the visits and meet the poets.
And now, like those poets you are pursuing a vocation. A good thing for all of us who meet you here.
Thank you, Rona! I appreciate your kind words.
Poetry has been the golden thread throughout my life. It reaches back further than this, but university is where it became firmly anchored.
For me, in a poetry-loving family, it reaches back to earliest childhood. What a gift.
A gift indeed!
Great piece. We must have been contemporaries and as a Dorset grammar school girl at a small, overlooked college I was constantly aware of not being in any of the right societies with all those toffs. But I still claim it as the most extraordinary, exciting and life changing three years of my life.
Thank you, Sarah. We probably walked past each other on Broad Street!
My college, Hertford, was mostly toff-free, as in those days it was pioneering in its way of increasing the intake from state schools like mine. For the most part, I enjoyed my time there.
I wish that I had discovered OUPS when I was there in the 80s. I skipped the Freshers Fair and missed out on that aspect of Oxford. I also never went to Harcourt Arboretum, which I finally visited last week to see the bluebells in the woods. I only saw six people the whole time I was there (on a weekday), even though it is accessible by bus from Oxford. The rhododendrons and azaleas were abundant as well.
I also missed out on the Arboretum. I'll try to make up for it on my next visit.
Harcourt might not have been open to the public in the 1980s. I knew about Wytham Woods but thought that only researchers could go there. Now you can get a permit to enter, so I plan to check it out when the paths are not so muddy.
Oxford University has, speaking from Canada, a reputation for being a university of letters, rather than of sciences. If someone has a degree or is a Fellow of Oxford, I tend to assume that person studies history or linguistics or anthropology or some other study involving language and/or the humans who use language. I have always wondered if there was a science department or a medical school hidden away somewhere at Oxford. In Canada, a Fellow is a physician or surgeon in training who is nearing completion of their field of specialty.
Poetry is a very esoteric field. I know a few authors personally, but no poets. I tend to think poetic writing is a more difficult discipline than prose writing.
There's certainly a history of science at Oxford: Stephen Hawking studied there, as did Tim Berners-Lee and Dorothy Hodgkin, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1964 for her crystallographic study of penicillin and vitamin B12.
But yes, the reputation of the place tends to focus on philosophy, law, politics, etc.
Ah, you see, I know perfectly well who Stephen Hawking was, but the fact he studied at Oxford slid away from my memory because I don't associate Oxford with science (I do associate Cambridge with science, probably because of Watson and Crick). Are some colleges at Oxford more associated with the sciences than others?
Most colleges will offer places in sciences , which are mostly taught by the University. I'm sure some colleges have particular strengths in science, but those probably ebb and flow over the years.
This reminded me of the witty, scathing book Chums: https://www.amazon.com/Chums/dp/1788167384
I haven't read Parris' book but I've seen enough of this at first hand...
I'm sure you have. For an American, it's eye-opening.
And Parris is a good writer, well placed to comment on the subject.
Ah, lovely! I saw your Oxford poetry titles hit my inbox around the time we were wrapping up the semester, and saved them to savor in slow time. Very glad I did. I used to come across the names of Oxford and Cambridge in books or author bios (certainly C.S. Lewis), and those words were my whole idea of university. I looked them up in our encyclopedia and sighed wonderingly: How did a person get to such places? They were Narnia to me in the U.S. northwest. No one in my family had been east of Chicago for a few generations. So I read your essay with my old dreams kindling. Of course, college in my home state was fine, but it wasn’t Narnia. We had a poetry annual, and I was thrilled to publish a poem in it. My, those days!
Thank you, Tara! I'm so pleased that you enjoyed this. And I hope you have had a rest since the wrap-up of the semester.
Of course, where we are is never Narnia, is it? I'd say that the US Northwest is closer to it for me than Oxford!
Gerard Manley Hopkins was also at Oxford - Baliol College - and described Oxford in his poetry too. Now that I think about it, it’s rather extraordinary given that Roman Catholics were only allowed to attend university in Britain from the nineteenth century.
Thank you Thomas. Yes, it seems odd in the circumstances that he was there. But the city's tradition of poets is all the richer due to him.
After reading your fascinating post, I looked him up. Apparently he converted while at Oxford, so presumably the education laws had by that point changed. Must find out more. But yes - a gem for Oxford.
It is something special, indeed, when you find your 'tribe', even if it is fleeting. I was amused that the after-reading shenanigans involved ribbing other non-present poets! Now, there, there, boys and girls. 😂
You're right, Lani. It as good to find like-minded people.
I remember one (excellent) poet saying that another then famous writer had a "tin ear" for poetry. My first experience of literary tittle-tattle!
Jeffrey, as always, you wear your modesty charmingly. You do a wonderful job picturing the backwater poetry resides as in the world of movers and shakers -- and Shelley notwithstanding, poetry might house different parliaments, but in that world you deftly discounted, they were rarely in session. The good news on both sides of the pond, I think, is that poetry in recent decades has risen to a relative high-water mark in practice and popularity, which is probably only 5 feet above sea level. :)
Thank you, Jay. I really appreciate your comment. And I'm glad to hear that poetry is keeping its head above water! Your remark makes me think of Shelley's "Ozmandias," that "King of Kings" and his ruined statute (and vain boasts):
"Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias
Perhaps the poets will get the last laugh, after all?