Oxford’s origin story teaches us something important: greatness doesn’t always come from grand beginnings. Sometimes, the most powerful institutions rise through need, resilience, and centuries of effort.
It has no founding date and simply ‘happened’, shaped by political unrest, centuries’ worth of events, power struggles, and rivalry that gave rise to its counterpart, Cambridge University. Despite its unstructured beginnings, Oxford quickly gained respect from monarchs and popes alike. It became a centre of philosophy, theology, law, and science, shaping the minds of leaders, revolutionaries, and Nobel laureates for over 900 years.
Percy Bysshe Shelley, Oscar Wilde, W.H. Auden, Seamus Heaney & Lewis Carroll
Legendary Oxford Poets
- Percy Bysshe Shelley A leading figure of the Romantic movement, Shelley studied at University College, Oxford. He was famously expelled for publishing a pamphlet titled The Necessity of Atheism.
- Oscar Wilde Known for his razor-sharp wit and poetic flair, Wilde attended Magdalen College. His poetry and plays, like The Ballad of Reading Gaol, remain timeless.
- W.H. Auden One of the 20th century’s most influential poets, Auden studied at Christ Church. His work explores themes of politics, love, and existentialism.
- Seamus Heaney Though Irish by birth, Heaney spent time at Oxford as a professor and fellow. A Nobel Laureate, his poetry bridges personal memory and political history.
- Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) While best known for Alice in Wonderland, Carroll was also a poet and mathematician at Christ Church.
- Jonathan Swift The satirist behind Gulliver’s Travels earned his MA at Hart Hall, Oxford. His poetry often carried biting political commentary.
Poetry as a Skill
Poetry is absolutely a skill—one that can be cultivated through practice, study, and emotional awareness. According to The Letter Review, poetic ability can be taught and refined. While some people may have a natural affinity for rhythm and metaphor, others develop their craft through years of reading, writing, and reflecting. Like music or painting, poetry blends technique with imagination.
- Learnable techniques: meter, rhyme, imagery, symbolism.
- Emotional intelligence: the ability to express complex feelings.
- Creative discipline: writing regularly, revising, and reading widely.
Poetry as a Curse
But here’s the twist—many poets describe their gift as a kind of torment. Why? Because poetry demands vulnerability. It often emerges from pain, longing, or existential questioning. Poets like Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and Philip Larkin have written about the emotional toll of their art. Larkin’s infamous line from This Be the Verse—‘They … you up, your mum and dad’—is a raw example of poetry’s power to confront uncomfortable truths.
- Emotional exposure: baring your soul to strangers.
- Isolation: the poet’s mind can be a lonely place.
- Obsession: the need to capture fleeting thoughts in perfect form.
So Which Is It?
Poetry is both—a skill that can elevate the soul and a curse that can haunt the heart. It’s the art of turning chaos into beauty, and sometimes, that process hurts. But it also heals, connects, and transforms.
The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword
in the style of Oscar Wilde
The sword carves kingdoms,
but the pen carves minds.
Steel may silence a voice,
but ink resurrects it.
I dined once with tyrants—
they wore medals
like children wear mud.
They spoke of order,
but their laws were scaffolds for the dull.
The artist, poor fool,
paints truth in a world allergic to it.
He is jailed not for crime,
but for clarity.
The form of government that is most suitable to the artist
is no government at all*—
for beauty cannot be legislated,
nor genius taxed.
Let the pen bleed freely,
uncensored, ungoverned—
and let the sword rust
in the museum
of obsolete power.
MS Copilot – 14/9/2025
Take wing!
Su
*Quote by Oscar Wilde, from his essay, The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891).