{"id":7056053,"date":"2026-09-03T17:23:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T17:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/poets-at-large-mary-mccarthys-the-groves-of-academe\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T17:23:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T17:23:35","slug":"poets-at-large-mary-mccarthys-the-groves-of-academe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7056053","title":{"rendered":"Poets at Large: Mary McCarthy\u2019s \u201cThe Groves of Academe\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"159\" height=\"240\" data-attachment-id=\"36511\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/thornfieldhall.blog\/poets-at-large-mary-mccarthys-the-groves-of-academe\/gfoves-of-mccarthy\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thornfieldhall.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/gfoves-of-mccarthy.jpg?fit=159%2C240&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"159,240\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"gfoves of mccarthy\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thornfieldhall.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/gfoves-of-mccarthy.jpg?fit=159%2C240&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thornfieldhall.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/gfoves-of-mccarthy.jpg?resize=159%2C240&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-36511\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Near the end of Mary McCarthy\u2019s satire, <em>The Groves of Academe,<\/em> the squabbling English department at Jocelyn College sponsors a poetry conference<em>.\u00a0<\/em> My reaction to poetry conferences is  awe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Mary McCarthy is not awed; she explains the mechanics of the conference.\u00a0 The poets have attended so many (for a small fee) that they can predict the trajectory. They know that\u00a0\u00a0the president of the college will stand up at the last event and ask an intelligent but very long question. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the most charming moments is when Miss Mansell, wearing \u201ca high- necked black heavy crepe blouse encrusted with with sequins and a long black crepe skirt\u201d (an outfit that would suit any poet),  announces she intends to speak about and recite Virgil.\u00a0 The faculty and students are both shocked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McCarthy explains, \u201cFrom the point of view of the students, the choice was not a happy one.\u00a0 The majority of the students present had never heard of the Mantuan; they supposed he was a modern poet whom their faculty had not yet caught up with\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those who know Virgil are equally upset.\u00a0 \u201cA few scowling students who had not had the good fortune to be educated progressively moved restlessly in their seats, as though fighting being awakened from a dream tto their Latin teacher and the abhorrent learning by rote.\u00a0 There were stifled cries of \u2018Let me out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This made me laugh because \u2013 full disclosure \u2013 I used to teach Latin.\u00a0 So did my husband. We loved being T.A.\u2019s at the university, and in my case I was also a Visiting lecturer while my husband finished his thesis. \u00a0I taught Virgil and two first-year Latin classes, and required my students to memorize the opening lines of the<em> Aeneid<\/em>. I knew from experience during a protracted illness that reciting Virgil (silently) is calming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is one of McCarthy\u2019s best satires, and poets  would doubtless enjoy it.  And if you can\u2019t wander off to a poetry conference, read this book instead.<\/p>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Near the end of Mary McCarthy\u2019s satire, The Groves of Academe, the squabbling English department at Jocelyn College sponsors a poetry conference.\u00a0 My reaction to poetry conferences is awe. But Mary McCarthy is not awed; she explains the mechanics of the conference.\u00a0 The poets have attended so many (for a small fee) that they can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7056059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[218545,218546],"tags":[211523,30734,847,5239,158452,10881],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7056053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mary-mccarthy","category-poets","tag-academe","tag-groves","tag-large","tag-mary","tag-mccarthys","tag-poets"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Poets at Large: Mary McCarthy\u2019s \u201cThe Groves of Academe\u201d - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7056053\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poets at Large: Mary McCarthy\u2019s \u201cThe Groves of Academe\u201d - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Near the end of Mary McCarthy\u2019s satire, The Groves of Academe, the squabbling English department at Jocelyn College sponsors a poetry conference.\u00a0 My reaction to poetry conferences is awe. 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