Miniver Cheevy

The Town Down the River (1910)

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 send 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 medieval 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.

PORTRAIT BY R. T. HOOD

l. 11: “Thebes”; ancient religious and political capital of Upper Egypt, although the reference in this case is probably to the ancient city in east-central Greece, capital of Boeotia “Camelot”; in Arthurian legend, the location of King Arthur’s court.

l. 12:” Priam”; in Greek mythology, the king of Troy and father of Paris and Hector.