He was born well before his time, or so he thinks as he raises the bottle to his lips. “Miniver Cheevy” written by Edwin Arlington Robinson tells the life of a man who blames all of his problems on not being born in the Medieval Ages. The name of this man is also the namesake of the poem: Miniver Cheevy. Through his brilliant use of form, figurative language, and sound devices, Robinson portrays the theme of a wasted life and lonely life is often spent within fantasies in one’s head. Throughout “Miniver Cheevy” Robinson chooses to use a distinct and noticeable form that helps tell the actions and thoughts of Miniver Cheevy. The poem consists of eight quatrains which give the short poem a total of thirty-two lines. Robinson chooses to give the poem a narrative feeling by giving the poem a …show more content…
The author uses assonance in the fifth stanza, “Sinned incessantly” (Robinson). This proves once again that Miniver Cheevy is stuck within his own thoughts and is wishing that he could have been born in another time. In addition, the assonance also shows that Miniver Cheevy is longing to have the power that would give him the opportunity to be corrupt. Next, repetition is used in the seventh stanza in, “Miniver thought, and thought, and thought, and thought about it.” The repetition reveals that Miniver Cheevy is trying to think that maybe his loneliness and feeling of a wasted life have something to do with his own actions. Throughout the poem “Minister Cheevy”, Edwin Arlington Robinson shows the theme of a wasted life is often spent in fantasies through his use of form, figurative language, and sound devices. “Miniver coughed, and called it fate/and kept on drinking” (Robinson). Maybe he had a point, that the world is run by fate and not by the actions of its inhabitants. Maybe he was right, or maybe he was just a lonely alcoholic living by himself in his own