Summary
"Miniver Cheevy" is a poem about a dissatisfied man who is fixated on the past. The title character is introduced as a "child of scorn" who grew lean while he assailed the seasons (Lines 1-2). Time did not pass with ease for Cheevy. He cries for having ever been born, and the speaker prepares to list the reasons for Cheevy's unhappiness.
Cheevy's passion is imagining the glories of the past. Bright swords, prancing steeds, and bold warriors set him dancing. These are the only things in his life that move him. This longing for what he cannot attain leads him to sigh and dream as he avoids the reality in front of him. He rests from his labors and thinks about the societies of Thebes and Camelot. The Ancient Greek stories about Priam and his "neighbors" also occupy Cheevy's mind (Line 12).
Cheevy mourns what the speaker refers to as "the ripe renown / That made so many a name so fragrant" (Lines 13-14). Romance and Art are personified as outcasts: Romance is now on the town, and Art is a vagrant. Though he has never seen a member of the Medici family, Cheevy loves them and would sin incessantly if he could have been born into this powerful Italian family.
The commonplace is something to be cursed for Cheevy. He loathes khaki suits and misses the grace of medieval iron clothing. In the next stanza, he scorns the gold he seeks but admits that he needs it; he would be sorely annoyed without it. As is the pattern of the poem, Cheevy gets lost in his thoughts, trying to make sense of his paradox.
In the last stanza, the poet reintroduces Cheevy by using his full name and describing him as having been "born too late" (Line 29). Cheevy scratches his head and continues thinking. The final image shows Cheevy coughing, calling his situation fate, and continuing his drinking.
Analysis
"Miniver Cheevy" is a poem that follows the titular character's thoughts and obsessions as he ponders the glories of the past and compares them to his own seemingly miserable life. Through his use of elevated and suggestive diction, ludicrous imagery, and irony, Robinson succeeds in satirizing both Cheevy (a caricature of the poet himself) and the times in which he lives.
The narrative of the poem introduces Cheevy as a "child of scorn" (Line 1). This could mean that he was born of scorn, he was treated contemptuously, or he treated others with scorn (possibly all three). His coming of age is summed up in the line that he "Grew lean while he assailed the seasons" (Line 2). Time does not pass with ease for Cheevy; it took a lot out of him, including body weight. The word "assailed" means to make a concerted or violent attack on something, suggesting a personal responsibility. This is a character who actively resists the times in which he lives. He "wept that he was ever born," and the poet prepares to explain the reasons (line 3).
The phonetics of the word "scorn" suggest a cycle that comes to an end, foreshadowing Cheevy's main conflict. The "s" sound originates with the tongue behind the front teeth, close to the roof of the mouth but not touching it. The rest of the sounds travel from the back of the mouth toward the front, suggesting something traveling outward. This could be the dissatisfaction Cheevy feels internally about the world around him. The "n" sound, like the "s," situates the tongue behind the front teeth, but unlike the "s," is made by pressing the top of the tongue against the roof of the mouth (hence the word suggesting the end of a cycle). Cheevy, who feels he is an anachronism, cannot access the perceived greatness of the past. The newness of the present and the opportunity for greatness are closed to him.
Cheevy's romantic notions of the past are described in the second stanza. He loves the "days of old / When swords were bright and steeds were prancing" (Lines 5-6). This Arthurian imagining demonstrates that Cheevy views the past with rose-colored glasses. Whereas reality causes him to weep in the first stanza, here the "vision of a warrior bold / would set him dancing" (Lines 7-8). This somewhat ridiculous image satirizes Cheevy. The placement of the rhymes "prancing" and "dancing" parallel the images of a prancing pony and Cheevy dancing. A prancing horse moves with high springy steps. But when the word is applied to a person, it means to move in an ostentatious and exaggerated way. Robinson does not explicitly refer to Cheevy with this word, but he does form a connection between the two images through the use of rhyme.
The chivalric medieval-style romance was a genre that rose to popularity in the 1890s as an escapist form of literature. According to historian T.J. Jackson Lears, "what they sought was not the romance of encrusted convention and pale idealism, but the romance of fierce emotions and manly action—of 'real life'"(Lears 102). Part of the ethos of anti-modernism was the "recoil from an 'over-civilized' modern existence" (Lears xv). As we will later see, the character of Cheevy contrasts sharply with the values of hard work and action that constitute the materialistic and production-based society in which he lives, (and in which Robinson lived).
In the third stanza, Cheevy "[sighs] for what [is] not" (Line 9). This an obvious emotional gesture, but sighs can also be a reflex designed to help balance one's breathing. Cheevy's dissatisfaction dysregulates him; his longing for "what [is] not" keeps him from being in the world. He "[dreams] and [rests] from his labors," with the plural form of the word "labor" suggesting that he drifts from job to job (Line 10). The word "labor" also contributes to painting a picture of society's high valuation of hard work, with which Cheevy is at odds.
Cheevy's dreams conjure up the ancient societies of Thebes and Camelot. Thebes is the name of ancient cities in both Egypt and Greece, but considering that the poet references Greek classics, it is likely he is referring to Thebes, Greece. This site appears in the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus, Heracles, and others. Camelot is the castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Cheevy further dreams of "Priam's neighbors," which refers to the last king of Troy and to others from Greek mythology: Hector, Helen, Paris, and so on. His dreams do not focus on how Priam was butchered on an altar by the son of Achilles after Troy fell, nor do they discuss the fall of Thebes and Camelot.
In the fourth stanza, the poet gets to the heart of what Cheevy desires. Despite the razing of these ancient cities and the violent ends that many legendary figures faced, Cheevy craves the power and literary legacy that created the legends in the first place: he "[mourns] the ripe renown / That made so many a name so fragrant" (Lines 13-14). The word "ripe" is an interesting choice because it evokes a ripe piece of fruit. However, fruit can become overripe and spoil, just like civilizations can decay and collapse.
Cheevy mourns Romance and Art, figures who are personified as outcasts. Romance is "now on the town," a phrase that carries several connotations, including the idea of being out partying instead of working (Line 15). But it can also imply being out illicitly as a euphemism for adulterous cheating. So Cheevy may be unhappy because the grand tradition of Romance is no longer working as hard as it once did, or he could be scornful because what passes for Romance in the modern world is tawdry and cheap. Art is described as a vagrant, a person who wanders and begs. This demonstrates the way the poet satirizes the literary tastes of his times. It was years before Robinson achieved financial stability from his work.
The fifth stanza describes Cheevy's love for the Medici, a powerful and rich Italian family that ruled Florence for generations, supported Renaissance artists, and of whom several members became pope. It is not specified which aspect Cheevy desires most about the family, but it presumably is their overall notoriety and their influence on the art and culture of their time. That he would have "sinned incessantly / Could he have been one" is telling. Though the Medici were patrons of the arts, their legacy is complicated; some view(ed) them as tyrants. The sibilance of the phrase "sinned incessantly" makes a hissing sound like a snake, perhaps underlining the evils that the family perpetrated. The "s" sound also emphasizes how easily Cheevy would have engaged in sin to have been a member of this family. This contrasts the chivalric values of the romances that Cheevy has heroized thus far. The false rhyme of "seen one" and "been one" underscores the inconsistencies in his dreaming, which suggests that he is deluding himself.
In the sixth stanza, Cheevy curses the commonplace and views a khaki suit with loathing (Lines 21-22). As already established in the poem, Cheevy rejects the reality of his external world. Khaki was originally a military fabric, so a suit has militaristic connotations, which ties in with the dissenting comment the poet is making about the times in which he lives. There is irony inherent in the fact that Cheevy misses "the mediæval grace / Of iron clothing" (Lines 23-24). Iron clothing is anything but graceful, which shows the unrealistic and incoherent elements of Cheevy's view of the past.
Cheevy scorns the gold he seeks but admits that his life is difficult without it. Gold is an example of metonymy, substituting the money Cheevy needs to function in society for the word "gold." This word choice references both the past and the present. In the ancient times that Cheevy so desperately wishes to be living in, gold circulated as currency. The repetition of the word "scorn" reminds the reader of Cheevy's origins as a "child of scorn" (Lines 1 and 25). The paradox he struggles with (living in the wrong times) occupies his thoughts.
In the final stanza, the poet reintroduces Cheevy by full name, describing him as having been "born too late" (Line 29). He scratches his head and continues thinking about his troubles. He states that it is his fate to live in the modern world (Line 31). The final image of the poem leaves the reader with the knowledge that Cheevy drowns his sorrows in alcohol.
This poem accomplishes satirization in several ways. Cheevy's oversized romantic notions of the past coupled with his alcoholism and inability to improve his circumstances create a character that readers are meant to laugh at. The character of Miniver Cheevy is said to represent the poet himself, a lean man who struggled with his career and used alcohol (and clearly, humor as well) to cope. But as previously stated, the poem also satirizes the times (and in particular, the literary tastes) in which Cheevy and the poet live(d).
