REELY'S POETRY BLOG

Many of us are told it is wrong to envy very early in life, but just how big of an impression does it make? Starting off in Catholic school at age 6, I of course learned I wasn’t supposed to covet my neighbor’s goods. I happened to notice that my older brother was not deterred one whit from coveting other people’s stuff with impunity, particularly mine, so I don’t think it made that big of an impression on me.

When I was 13, I learned the poem, Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson. That poem did make a big impression on me. It not only illustrates just how deceiving appearances can be, it also demonstrates that money doesn’t buy happiness and that one never really knows what’s going on in another person mind.

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

read the rest here – there’s an audio reading and picture by Edouard Manet to go with it.

And here’s another poem about envy that gives a different set of reasons not to be jealous of other people that I found on Google Books. It was written by a gentleman named William A. Stephens who, while he never became a famous poet, had the distinction of contributing to Canada’s early poetry in the 1840’s by publishing the first volume of poetry in Upper Canada (Hamilton, and Other Poems, (Toronto, 1840).

ENVY NOT—A MORAL.

” Who can stand before Envy ?” — Solomon.
” Envy pines at good possessed.”—Cowper.

I envy Stanley Stone his wife —
A lovely woman she;
0! if I had her, I would have
A living luxury.

I envy Grey his handsome house,
Complete from sill to tile;
0 ! if I had it I would live
In such a handsome style.

1 envy Blue his two-in-hand;
What horses! what a rig!
If they were only mine I’d feel
So gentlemanly big.

I envy Brown those costly clothes,
His brilliant ring as well;
What right has he to dress so fine ?
The proud, conceited swell!

I envy Black his eloquence.
How he can plead a cause!
If I had such a tongue as his
I’d live upon applause !

I envy Green that wondrous voice.
Zounds! how the fellow sings!
If I had such a voice as his
I’d prouder be than kings.
Read the rest of this entry »

Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn, is the useless anti-hero of Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poem by the same name. But what did Robinson mean by calling him a child of scorn?

The way I see it, it has to do with Miniver himself, not his childhood or the way his parents treated him, as some people seem to think. A child is the product of his parents, so since Miniver scorns everything around him, scorn is his true parent. So you can agree with me, or you can agree with all those commentaries on how it is about the poet himself because his momma really wanted a girl. I really doubt anyone got that particular explanation from Mr. Robinson himself.

In Shelley’s To The Night, you will recall that Death is Night’s brother, while Sleep is its child. I also recall reading a passage somewhere that suicide is the child or stepchild of depression. You get the idea.

What amuses me about Miniver Cheevy is, just like all people who think life would have been so glorious if they were born in a different time period or place, he assumes he would have been a prominent person when he probably would have been just another peasant.

I wanted to find you the best youtube recital on Miniver, but I don’t like any of them, so here’s the worst:

Okay, it’s really not that bad. It does have the words and at least he says “Medici” the right way.

Reely

Miniver Cheevy Study Guide link:
http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides2/miniver.html