Out of its Time

Have you ever wished to be someone else, some place else or even to exist in some other time period? In Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poem “Miniver Cheevy” we find just that man.

In one of the first lines of the poem Robinson writes, “he wept that he was ever born.” Miniver is clearly unhappy with his life and as the poem continues we gain more incite into the reasons behind his sadness.

Later in the poem, we find that he “mourned romance” and that he also “loved the old days,” but “cursed the commonplace.”  Miniver despises this era in which he exists. He fantasies over the past, making it nearly perfect and expecting it to be leaps better than his time. In the poem it says that he “missed the medieval grace.” He missed something from the past even though he had never lived in that time period. Over and over we are reminded of Miniver’s hatred modern and contemporary thoughts.

Near the end of the story, we find that Miniver became so depressed and unhappy with his life that he eventually drank himself to death, something I found particularly unbelievable. Ultimately I believe that Robinson is telling us that we should be happy with what we in out lives and live our lives to their full potential.

Miniver Cheevy Poem http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174244