Clavering by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Clavering is remembered as a man whose course resembled that of a sailor unable to bring a damaged vessel home after losing rudder and sails. He saw too far to be guided by the present and too near to reach the eternal, yet he continued steadily and without self-deception through visions of renown and demands of ambitions never achieved. He wrote verses for Cubit, listened patiently to Lingard when others would not, and spoke kindly of Calverly despite being mistaken about his goodness. The speaker wonders whether Clavering might have changed had he possessed Leffingwell’s fiery and destructive indolence, and whether he pitied those who urged him to settle into an ordinary earthly life and abandon the past. Ultimately, no speculation can reveal the man within: Clavering held to phantoms and friends, attained nothing, and left a wreath on Cubit’s grave.
By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1916 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Dramatic Monologue, Elegy · 391 words
First lines
I SAY no more for Clavering
Than I should say of him who fails
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Clavering is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1916 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Date: 1916 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Dramatic Monologue, Elegy, Character Study, Psychological Poetry
- Length: 391 words
- Structure: 1 section, 34 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for Clavering by Edwin Arlington Robinson
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — The work is a compact, reflective poem driven by a first-person speaker's meditation on Clavering rather than by extended narrative action.
- Dramatic Monologue — A distinct speaker addresses and judges an absent figure, revealing both Clavering's character and the speaker's own uncertain, self-questioning perspective.
- Elegy — The poem recalls Clavering as a failed or lost man, invokes graves and final words, and closes with a restrained memorial assessment of his life.
- Character Study — Its central purpose is to assemble an elusive portrait of Clavering through images of failure, loyalty, artistic aspiration, and unrealized potential.
Tags
poetry · narrative poem · American literature · early twentieth century · New England · small-town life · psychological portrait · social alienation · loneliness · disillusionment · identity · failure