Miniver Cheevy

"Miniver Cheevy" is the second song in Duke's song set Four Poems by Edwin Arlington Robinson.

Date: 1948Composer: John Woods DukeText: Edwin Arlington RobinsonSong Collection: Four Poems by Edwin Arlington Robinson

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Text

Miniver Cheevy
by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn,
Grew lean when 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 mediaeval 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.

Sheet Music

Richard Cory & Selected Songs

Composer(s): John Duke

Song(s): Richard Cory
Calvary
Luke Havergal
Miniver Cheevy
Bells in the Rain
Velvet Shoes
Viennese Waltz
Evening
Just-Spring
When I Set Out for Lyonnesse
Yellow Hair
Morning in Paris
In the Fields
The Mountains Are Dancing
Spring Thunder
Be Still As You Are Beautiful
One Red Rose
O World
The Song of Wandering Aengus
Brown Penny

Voice Type: Mixed

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