Miniver Cheevy is one of the best-known poems by the American poet Edwin Arlington Robinson. It is a short, dramatic lyric depicting a hopeless character by the comical name of Miniver Cheevy. The poem was published in 1910 in the collection The Town Down the River.
Robinson’s poem is one of several character studies of people who inhabit the imaginary New England village of Tilbury Town. The author’s own home town of Gardiner, Maine, was the model for this community. Robinson uses short, concise stanzas to portray the absurdities of a man who dreams of a grandeur beyond his unimportant existence.
Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn, Grew lean while he assailed the seasons; He wept that he was ever born, And he had reasons. Miniver loved the days of old When swords were bright and steeds were prancing; The vision of a warrior bold Would set him dancing. Miniver sighed for what was not, And dreamed, and rested from his labors; He dreamed of Thebes and Camelot, And Priam’s neighbors. Miniver mourned the ripe renown That made so many a name so fragrant; He mourned Romance, now on the town, And Art, a vagrant. Miniver loved the Medici, Albeit he had never seen one; He would have sinned incessantly Could he have been one. Miniver cursed the commonplace And eyed a khaki suit with loathing; He missed the mediaeval grace Of iron clothing. Miniver scorned the gold he sought, But sore annoyed was he without it; Miniver thought, and thought, and thought, And thought about it. Miniver Cheevy, born too late, Scratched his head and kept on thinking; Miniver coughed, and called it fate, And kept on drinking.
Miniver is a pathetic figure whose romantic longing is made more ridiculous by his own inactivity. He dreams of medieval adventure, but all he can do is sit, scratch his head, and keep on drinking. Robinson’s irony is highlighted by his use of precise, direct language and exact rhythms. Robinson’s portrait of Cheevy is still somewhat sympathetic. There is a sense of understanding in his depiction of a man who, “born too late,” is destined to sigh “for what was not.” Although we are given no details about Miniver’s actual life, we can sense its emptiness in his need to escape.
“Miniver Cheevy” is a relatively early poem in Robinson’s long and productive writing career. The poet wrote several long narrative poems, including the King Arthur poems Merlin (1917), Lancelot (1920), and Tristram (1927). However, Robinson is remembered most for short, dramatic lyrics.
For more information about Robinson, see Robinson, Edwin Arlington. See also American literature (Realist poetry).
