Literature/Edwin Arlington Robinson
Miniver Cheevy
Edwin Arlington Robinson, 1907
Edwin Arlington Robinson's portrait of Miniver Cheevy, a man who scorns his own time and longs for the romance of ages past, while he keeps on drinking.
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 oldWhen swords were bright and steeds were prancing;The vision of a warrior boldWould 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 renownThat 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 incessantlyCould he have been one.
Miniver cursed the commonplaceAnd eyed a khaki suit with loathing;He missed the mediæval graceOf 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.