Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn,
Grew lean while he assailed the seasons;
He wept that he was ever born,
And he had reasons.
This opening stanza introduces the character of Miniver Cheevy as a "child of scorn" in the first line. Either he was born of scorn, he was treated contemptuously, or he treated others with scorn (possibly all three). The name "Miniver Cheevy" has often been compared to the phrase "minimum achiever," which determines his destiny through his name. While growing up, he "Grew lean while he assailed the seasons," meaning that his struggle with life took the vitality out of him. To assail something means to violently attack it; the fact that it was he who assailed the seasons, and not the other way around, is significant because it assigns personal responsibility. All of this contributes to the satirization taking place in the poem.
He mourned Romance, now on the town,
The poet engages in wordplay when describing some of the reasons that Cheevy is unhappy. Cheevy is a big fan of Romance, as evidenced by his obsession with knights and chivalry. He considers the spirit of adventure, the age of chivalry, and the grandeur of the past to be sadly gone. In describing this melancholy, the poet personifies Romance. The phrase “on the town” carries several connotations, including the idea of being out partying instead of working. 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.
Miniver scorned the gold he sought,
But sore annoyed was he without it;
Miniver thought, and thought, and thought,
And thought about it.
Cheevy's scorn did not end with his childhood; he scorns the gold he seeks as an adult. The word "gold" is a metonymy for the money one needs to survive in the modern day and age. As an outcast, Cheevy does not wish to don a "khaki suit" and hold down a job or join the military. The earlier line about him "[resting] from his labors" suggests that he drifts from job to job. Rather than take action, he remains in his dreams and thoughts. The repetition and continuation of the word "thought" into the next line produce an exaggerated and comical effect. The final image of Cheevy drinking suggests that he does not in reality work, and that his labors as well as his dreams are self-delusions.
The word "gold" also has implications for the culture of the time. The early twentieth century was a time of booming industry and growth, with the United States becoming a player on the world stage. The materialistic culture this produced is criticized in several of Robinson's poems. Seeking gold also has imperialistic connotations, and the earlier line about the khaki suit contributes to a militaristic portrait of America, since khaki is originally a military fabric. Robinson satirizes this militaristic and materialistic culture.
