Edwin Arlington Robinson was an early-twentieth-century American poet who wrote about ordinary people using traditional poetic forms of rhyme and meter. "Miniver Cheevy," a narrative poem published in Robinson's 1910 collection The Town Down The River, depicts a troubled but somewhat comic character who wishes he had been born in a different era. The poem explores the dark side of American materialism as the poet reveals Miniver to be an alcoholic.
Miniver Cheevy is introduced as a bitter outcast. Physically lean, he struggles against the world around him, and he weeps over the fact of his life. The reason for his anguish is that he does not fit in with the times; he loves antiquity. Warriors with bright swords and prancing steeds excite him. While resting from his labors, he dreams of both history and myth: Thebes, Camelot, and Priam's neighbors. Romance and Art are mourned, implying their absence from the times in which Cheevy lives. He would give anything to be rich and powerful like the Medici family, but it is his lot to don a khaki suit and seek riches. Tormented, he considers how he was born too late, and drowns his sorrows in alcohol.
The Town Down The River, published in 1910, was dedicated to former president Theodore Roosevelt. In 1904, the president's son brought Robinson's collection The Children of the Night to his father's attention. Roosevelt persuaded Charles Scribner's Sons to republish it, and he reviewed it himself in The Outlook. The volume earned Robinson a sinecure at the New York Customs Office. The financial support this awarded helped Robinson focus on his craft. The Town Down The River was well received.
