Reely's Poetry Blog

Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn, is the useless anti-hero of Edwin Arlington Robinson's poem by the same name. But what did Robinson mean by calling him a child of scorn?

The way I see it, it has to do with Miniver himself, not his childhood or the way his parents treated him, as some people seem to think. A child is the product of his parents, so since Miniver scorns everything around him, scorn is his true parent.

So you can agree with me, or you can agree with all those commentaries on how it is about the poet himself because his momma really wanted a girl. I really doubt anyone got that particular explanation from Mr. Robinson himself.

In Shelley's To The Night, you will recall that Death is Night's brother, while Sleep is its child. I also recall reading a passage somewhere that suicide is the child or stepchild of depression. You get the idea.

What amuses me about Miniver Cheevy is, just like all people who think life would have been so glorious if they were born in a different time period or place, he assumes he would have been a prominent person when he probably would have been just another peasant.

Here's a youtube, the best I could find so far ... though I will replace it if a better one comes along.

Miniver Cheevy Study Guide link:

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides2/miniver.html