Leffingwell by Edwin Arlington Robinson
“Leffingwell” presents a man judged by others as a parasite and sycophant, yet defended as something more complicated: a “sorry knight” drawn by distant promises of light that may have deceived him. He lied, but he also believed in what he pursued. After his death, those who leave him acknowledge that they cannot know how much of him has ended or begun. Though he was both hated and loved, he “played and lost,” leaving behind debts and a public record of failure. The speakers question their right to mock his arrears or to measure what his ruin cost him, suggesting that the height from which he fell was great. Those around him confess that they never understood the sorrow and pain within him because he seemed asleep or passive. Near death, however, he confronted them with a fierce, profane farewell, telling them not to wonder, weep, or wish for his return. They imagine that he may now be an amiable shade among other phantoms, but they do not seek reassurance: they believe he would rise to haunt them, just as he promised.
By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1910 · Genre: Poetry, Dramatic Monologue, Elegy · 449 words
First lines
I - THE LURE
NO, no, - forget your Cricket and your Ant, / For I shall never set my name to theirs
What this Textopian page supports
Leffingwell is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1910 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: 1910 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Poetry, Dramatic Monologue, Elegy, Character Study, Psychological Poetry
- Length: 449 words
- Structure: 1 section, 32 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for Leffingwell by Edwin Arlington Robinson
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Genres
- Poetry — The work is a three-part lyric poem, composed in formally structured, rhymed stanzas and focused on the speaker's reflective interpretation of Leffingwell's life and death.
- Dramatic Monologue — Each section presents an assertive speaker addressing or implicating a communal audience, reconstructing Leffingwell's character through public judgment, private speculation, and posthumous commentary.
- Elegy — The second and third poems concern Leffingwell's funeral, burial, death, and haunting memory, using the conventions of mourning while resisting sentimental praise.
- Character Study — The central subject is an ambiguous, flawed man portrayed as parasite, sycophant, liar, dreamer, failure, and possible victim of unrealized ideals.
Tags
poetry · American literature · modernist poetry · narrative poem · dramatic monologue · psychological portrait · melancholy · isolation · disillusionment · mortality · failure · regret