Laurel · Edwin Arlington Robinson · The Town Down the River

Miniver Cheevy

Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935) · 1910

iambic tetrameter · ABAB · 32 lines · from The Town Down the River

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.

Words in this poem

miniver n.: A fur esteemed in the Middle Ages as a part of costume. It is uncertain whether it was the fur of one animal only or of different animals. [See Meniver.]
albeit conj.: Even though; although; notwithstanding. [OE. al be although it be, where al is our all. Cf. Although.]
incessantly adv.: Unceasingly; continually.
cursed a.: Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Miniver Cheevy is in the public domain. This text is taken from The town down the river, Project Gutenberg ebook #76699; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Edwin Arlington Robinson, Miniver Cheevy, in The Town Down the River (1910), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #76699, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/robinson-town-down-river/miniver-cheevy.html, id L17210.

Form and metre

Miniver Cheevy is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 14 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in iambic tetrameter.

Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.

Rhyme words, stanza by stanza

The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.

1 ABAB scorn^A · seasons^B · born^A · reasons^B
2 ABAB old^A · prancing^B · bold^A · dancing^B
3 ABAB not^A · labors^B · camelot^A · neighbors^B
4 ABAB renown^A · fragrant^B · town^A · vagrant^B
5 -A-A medici · one^A · incessantly · one^A
6 A-A- commonplace^A · loathing · grace^A · clothing
7 ABAB sought^A · it^B · thought^A · it^B
8 ABAB late^A · thinking^B · fate^A · drinking^B

Scansion, line by line

Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn,	8	/˘˘·····
Grew lean while he assailed the seasons;	9	····˘/·/˘
He wept that he was ever born,	8	·····/˘·
And he had reasons.	5	···/˘
Miniver loved the days of old	8	/˘˘·····
When swords were bright and steeds were prancing;	9	·······/˘
The vision of a warrior bold	8	·/˘··/˘·
Would set him dancing.	5	···/˘
Miniver sighed for what was not,	8	/˘˘·····
And dreamed, and rested from his labors;	9	···/˘··/˘
He dreamed of Thebes and Camelot,	8	·····/˘·
And Priam’s neighbors.	5	·/·/˘
Miniver mourned the ripe renown	8	/˘˘···˘/
That made so many a name so fragrant;	9	···/···/˘
He mourned Romance, now on the town,	8	··˘/····
And Art, a vagrant.	5	···/˘
Miniver loved the Medici,	8	/˘˘··˘/˘
Albeit he had never seen one;	8	˘/˘··/··
He would have sinned incessantly	8	····˘/˘˘
Could he have been one.	5	·····
Miniver cursed the commonplace	8	/˘˘··/˘·
And eyed a khaki suit with loathing;	9	···/˘··/˘
He missed the mediæval grace	8	··˘·····
Of iron clothing.	5	·/˘/˘
Miniver scorned the gold he sought,	8	/˘˘·····
But sore annoyed was he without it;	9	··˘/·····
Miniver thought, and thought, and thought,	8	/˘˘·····
And thought about it.	5	·····
Miniver Cheevy, born too late,	8	/˘˘·····
Scratched his head and kept on thinking;	8	······/˘
Miniver coughed, and called it fate,	8	/˘˘·····
And kept on drinking.	5	···/˘

The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.

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