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 days of old     When swords were bright and steeds were prancing;    The vision of a warrior bold     Would 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 renown    That 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 incessantly    Could he have been one.  Miniver cursed the commonplace    And eyed a khaki suit with loathing;   He missed the mediæval grace    Of 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.

Composition date is unknown - the above date represents the first publication date.

The lyrical form of this poem is abab.11.

Thebes:

Greek city on the Nile.

Camelot: the mythical city of King Arthur's court.12.

Priam: king of Troy, father of Aeneus (founder of Rome)and killed in the seven years' war with the Greek at Troy.17.

Medici: rulers of Renaissance Florence known forboth a love of scholarship and art, and a penchant fora pitiless use of power.22. a khaki suit: a military uniform, coloured yellow-brown.