Transcript Miniver Cheevy Per.4

Miniver Cheevy
by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Janine De Leon
Quynh Pham
Jason Choy
Alex Pham
Danny Phan
Period 4
Miniver Cheevy
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 Medici,
Albeit he had never seen one;
He would have sinned incessantly
Could he have been one.
Miniver loved the days of old
When swords were bright and steeds were
prancing;
The vision of a warrior bold
Would set him dancing.
Miniver cursed the commonplace
And eyed a khaki suit with loathing;
He missed the mediæval grace
Of iron clothing.
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 renown
That made so many a name so fragrant;
He mourned Romance, now on the town,
And Art, a vagrant.
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.
E. A. Robinson
Edward Arlington Robinson
Born on December 22, 1869 in Lincoln
County, Maine
Died on April 6, 1935 in New York City
Remained unnamed until he was six
months old, because his parents were
expecting a girl
Studied at Harvard University
Won three Pulitzer Prizes for his poetry
His brother married the woman he loved
Never married and died of cancer at the age
of 65
Background
● Edwin Arlington Robinson's “Miniver Cheevy” is a dramatic lyric poem centering on a twentiethcentury misfit who dreams of living in the heroic age of sword and horse.
● Miniver is the name of a white or gray fur used in earlier times to trim the ceremonial robes of royals
and nobles. In his dreams about the past, Mr. Cheevy perhaps sees himself in such fine robes as an
important person at the court of a king—or as the king himself.
● Cheevy resembles words derived from the French noun cheval
(horse) to identify gallant knights (chevaliers) and their code of
honor (chivalry).
lining of the fur
Structure
●
The structure of "Miniver Cheevy" contains eight four-line stanzas (quatrains). The first and third lines of each
stanza have masculine end rhyme, and the second and fourth lines have feminine end rhyme. Masculine rhyme
occurs when the final syllable of a line rhymes with the final syllable of another line. Feminine rhyme occurs
when the final two syllables of a line rhyme with the final two syllables of another line.
●
“Miniver Cheevy” uses a traditional rhyme scheme known as ABAB, which means that every other line rhymes.
It also has a set structure. The first and third lines of each stanza have eight syllables (iambic tetrameter), while
the second line of each stanza has nine syllables, and the last, shorter line of each stanza has five syllables. Both
of these lines do not have any meter.
●
By making longer and shorter lines in each stanza, Robinson creates an uneven feeling to the poem. Just as Miniver
Cheevy feels out-of-sync with his era, the meter of the poem seems a little out-of-sync.
Rhyme Scheme & Diction
A
Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn,
Grew lean while he assailed the seasons;
He wept that he was ever born, B
And he had reasons.
A
B
Miniver loved the days of old
When swords were bright and steeds
C were
prancing;
The vision of a warrior bold
Would set him dancing. C
D
Miniver sighed for what was not,
And dreamed, and rested from his labors;
E
He dreamed of Thebes and Camelot,
And Priam’s neighbors.
F
I
Miniver loved the Medici,
Albeit he had never seen one;
J
He would have sinned incessantly
I
Could he have been one.
J
D
E
Miniver mourned the ripe
F renown
That made so many a name so fragrant;
He mourned Romance, now on the town,
And Art, a vagrant.
G
Positive
Negative
Neutral
Miniver cursed the commonplace
K
And eyed a khaki suit with loathing;
L
He missed the mediæval grace
K
Of iron clothing.
L
Miniver scorned the gold he sought,
M
But sore annoyed was he without it;
N
Miniver thought, and thought, and thought,
And thought about
M it.
N
Miniver Cheevy, born too late,
Scratched his head and kept
O on thinking;
Miniver coughed, and called it fate,
And kept on drinking.
P
O
Stanza 1
1
Here Miniver Cheevy says that
he is born into hatred. This
Figurative Language/
Poetic Devices
A
Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn,
2
first line already sets the tone
B
for the poem being that scorn
Grew lean while he assailed the seasons;
implies disparagement.
A
He wept that he was ever born,
B
And he had reasons.
1. scorn: the feeling belief that someone or something is worthless or despicable
2. assailed: made a concerted or violent attack on
Alliteration
Oxymoron
Repetition
He got thin as the years went by
He wished he had never been
born, and rightfully so. Showing
regret for the lifestyle that he was
born into.
Masculine rhyme
Feminine rhyme
Stanza 2
Miniver feels that if he were born
earlier that he could have had a chance
at glory. He loved the glory days of the
knights fighting each other
Figurative Language/
Poetic Devices
C
Miniver loved the days of old
Enjambment
3
4
D
Imagery
Repetition
When swords were bright and steeds were
Thinking about those times
made him happy enough to
dance
C
prancing;
D
The vision of a warrior bold
3. steeds: horses being ridden or available for riding
Would set him dancing.
4. prancing: moving with high springy steps
In earlier times a knight was a
person held with great esteem.
Miniver could have been one of
those knights, giving his life a
whole knew meaning
Stanza 3
Figurative Language/
Poetic Devices
Miniver was not happy with the
life he lived. He mourned “what
Historical Allusions
Miniver sighed for what was not,
E
Repetition
was not” and imagined a
different existence. He alludes to
And dreamed, and rested from his
5
the past, such as Ancient Greece.
labors;
6
E
7
He dreamed of Thebes and
F Camelot,
5. Thebes: a city of ancient Greece
Andand
Priam’s
6. Camelot: the legendary site of King Arthur’s palace
court neighbors.
7. Priam: a king of Troy
F
Ancient Greece:
●
Thebes is famous in myth,
legend, and history, including
Oedipus, who was a mythical
Greek king of the city
●
Priam was king during the
Trojan War.
The Arthurian World:
●
Camelot was where King
Arthur ruled and it was the
capital of his realm in
Arthurian romances.
Stanza 4
Figurative Language/
Poetic Devices
8
G
Miniver is sadly disappointed that
there will be no romance and
artistry that once gave poetry the
uprise and grand tragedy that
H
life.
Alliteration
Repetition
Personification
That made so many a name so
seemed to him to be forgotten in
the present shown as a nobody in
Enjambment
Miniver mourned the ripe renown
G
fragrant;
9
H
He mourned Romance, now on the
8. renown: the condition of being known or talked about by many people
town, And Art, a vagrant.
9. vagrant: a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging
Stanza 5
Figurative Language/
Poetic Devices
10
I
Miniver daydreams about the
legendary personages, so called
J
infamous family
12
I
He would have sinned incessantly
J
Could he have been one.
10. Medici: wealthy Italian family
11. Albeit: although
12. incessantly: without interruption
Repetition
Albeit he had never seen one;
deeds, if only he could escape into
the past and change into an
Alliteration
11
Medici, whose wickedness would
incite him to perform his own evil
Historical Allusions
Miniver loved the Medici,
Enjambment
Renaissance:
●
Medici: Italian noble family
who produced three popes
(Leo X, Clement VII and Leo
XI) and two queens (Catherine
de Medicis and Marie de
Medicis). Rulers of
Renaissance Florence.
Stanza 6
K
Miniver hates the quiet peace
that he is given. He is disgusted
Enjambment
Miniver cursed the commonplace
13
Historical Allusions
L
with his current appearance and
misses the suit of armor that was
Figurative Language/
Poetic Devices
Alliteration
And eyed a khaki suit with loathing;
Repetition
14
K
worn during the war.
Synecdoche
He missed the mediæval grace
15
L
Of iron clothing.
13. khaki: beige cloth used to make military uniforms
14. mediæval (alternative spelling to medieval): of or relating to the Middle Ages
15. iron clothing: suit of armor
Khaki:
textile fabric of a dull brownishyellow color, in particular a
strong cotton fabric used in
military clothing.
Stanza 7
16
M
Miniver criticize the idea of
looking for gold. But without
Repetition
Miniver scorned the gold he sought,
such wealth, constant thinking of
poverty leaves him depressed.
Figurative Language/
Poetic Devices
17
N
But sore annoyed was he without it;
M
Miniver thought, and thought, and
N
thought,
16. gold: money
17. sought: desired to obtain or achieve
And thought about it.
Stanza 8
“Born too late” is referring back to
the first quatrain how he was the
Figurative Language/
Poetic Devices
O
Alliteration
Miniver Cheevy, born too late,
Repetition
“child of scorn,” because he wasn’t
born first and he wasn’t a girl. It
P
Scratched his head and kept on
wouldn’t matter if he wasn’t a girl if
he was born early.
When Miniver Cheevy “kept on
drinking,” he gave up on himself,
O
thinking;
He realized that he couldn’t
control when he was born and
P
Miniver coughed, and called it fate,
he’s hopeless for a better future.
And kept on drinking.
blamed it on “fate.”
Quiz
1. Where was E. A. Robinson born?
2. How many Pulitzer Prizes did Robinson win?
3. What type of poem is this?
4. What is the tone for the first line in the poem?
5. Define scorn.
6. In stanza 3, what does the author allude to?
7. In stanza 5, what does Miniver Cheevy daydream about?
8. What is khaki used for?
9. In stanza 7, why does Miniver feel depressed?
10.The poem uses a _____ rhyme scheme known as _____.