People often believe that they are aware of what is happening in another person’s life. However, it is almost impossible to know the true condition of one’s heart. Edwin Arlington Robinson was someone who knew this full well. He experienced an insurmountable amount of pain in his life, and his experiences are reflected in his writings. As Robinson reveals in his poem, “Richard Cory,” lack of community and isolation can cause feelings of deep depression and loneliness and, in extreme cases, can lead to suicide. The Poetry Foundation describes Edwin Arlington Robinson as “one of the most prolific major American poets of the twentieth century… [Who], ironically, [is] best remembered for only a handful of short poems.” Robinson was destined for …show more content…
This could easily be compared to how Robinson’s brother committed suicide from a drug overdose. Hoyt C. Franchere says in his writings in Edwin Arlington Robinson, “‘Richard Cory’ comes first to mind because it is a nearly perfect representation of Edwin's next older brother.” Robinson wrote about topics that were close to his heart because of what he experienced in his life. The story of Richard Cory was a shocking, but brutally honest one. Lloyd Morris wrote in The Poetry of Edwin Arlington Robinson: An Essay in Appreciation:
A dramatist would have been under the necessity of justifying the suicide by some train of events in which Richard Cory's character would have inevitably betrayed him. A novelist would have dissected the psychological effects of these events upon Richard Cory. The poet, with a more profound grasp of life than either, shows us only what life itself would show
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The poem opens up describing Cory as a man who was “a gentleman from sole to crown” (3) who everyone was fond of. The narrator of the story was the people of the town, and they describe Cory like he is a king by using phrases like “imperially slim” (4) and “richer than a king” (9). The townspeople envied Cory in almost every way, as shown in these line in the poem: “In fine, we thought that he was everything / To make us wish that we were in his place” (11-12). They lifted Cory up on a pedestal as a man who was perfect in all his ways, when in reality, this man was a man bound in the chains of despair and isolation. While everyone was busy admiring him from afar, they did not find the time to realize that Cory was a man who plainly, needed help. To many readers, the last stanza of “Richard Cory” would come as a shock, but as Radcliffe Squires says in Edwin Arlington Robinson: Centenary Essays, “The suicide of Richard Cory is not, or ought not to be, a surprise. It is an inevitability, predetermined by the subjugation of selfhood.” Cory’s suicide was caused by selfhood of the people in the town. The last stanza of the poem accurately depicts that
In contrast, Richard Cory was viewed as the gem of the neighborhood, unlike The Barbie doll. Richard Cory was a man loved by all. He was a man that society had put up on a pedestal. He had the looks, wealth and the manner that everyone wanted. Even though people did not really know him they wanted to live like him an...
The speakers in A. E. Housman poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” and Edward Arlington Robinson poem “Richard Cory” serve different purposes but uses irony and rhyme to help convey their message. In “To an Athlete Dying Young” the speaker’s purpose is to show the audience dying young with glory is more memorable than dying old with glory. In “Richard Cory” the speaker’s purpose is to show the audience “you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
Nobody was better looking than anybody else,” (627). This quote shows that in Harrison Bergeron’s society, everyone is identical to everyone else. People are not allowed to be unique or different in any way, shape, or form. This is due to the immense pressure of society that forces people to conform. In this case, it is the Handicapper General, one of the most influential powers, that is oppressing the individuals to become similar as well as the common person who is going along with it. When the Handicapper General suppresses George, he is forcing him to conform to be “normal,” and when the majority of the population goes along with it, they are reinforcing the conformism. This idea is also reinforced in the poem, “Richard Cory.” When describing how society views the “perfect” protagonist, the writer explains “In fine, we thought he was everything / To make us wish that we were in his place, (Robinson Lines 11-12). This quote shows how society has forced Richard Cory to be this perfect image of a man. Richard Cory was not allowed to be individualistic due to society’s standards. A good man was supposed to be rich, a gentleman, and happy. These qualities of a good person pressed in on Cory and made him become something that he was not. In the end, Richard Cory’s downfall is
Robinson, Edward Arlington. "Richard Cory." The Pocket Book of Modern Verse. New York: Washington Square Press, 1954. 153.
“Richard Cory” is a very short poem about a wealthy man. The audience of the story is not sure how he has achieved having such a wealthy life style, but according to the story, he is living the American dream. Robinson’s work states “In fine, we thought that he was everything to make us wish that we were in his place” (James 142). The story also says Richard is well liked and thought of in the community he lives in. At the end of the story it says “…one calm summer night, went home,
The main character of the poem, Richard Cory, is an individual who represents the irony of modern American life. The poem seems to take place during The Gilded Age where the people who had an education were wealthy and the rest of them were just poor. The main thrust of this poem suggests the differences between the wealthy and the poor. During this time, people’s socio-economic classes were easier to identify. Richard Cory belongs to the high economic class, while the narrator fits in lower class.
McClatchy, J. D. The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry Second Edition. 2nd ed. New York: Vintage, 2003. Print.
“[F]uture commentators on American poetry and political issues will not be able to ignore the … authentic voice of the region,” argues Barry Ahearn, author of the article Poetry: 1900 to the 1940s, which discusses the importance of the author writing about his or her region of choice in their poetry and how it affects their writing (Ahearn 373). Ahearn discusses writers such as Sterling A. Brown, Langston Hughes, H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), Robert Frost, Robinson Jeffers, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Lorine Niedecker, George Oppen, John Crowe Ransom, Charles Rezikoff, Muriel Rukeyser, Gertrude Stine, Wallace Stevens, Sara Teasdale, William Carlos Williams, and Louis Zukofksy. The purpose of mentioning so many, claims Ahearn, is to gather a survey of works between 1900 and the 1940s. The discussion of these writers creates a wide range of Modernist authors that influenced each other and the people who read their works; the author claims that the authenticity of the writer is what creates a more accurate work of literature and the life experiences of these authors is the material that adds to their writing as a whole. Robert Frost and Langston Hughes are regional writers that focus on specific places but have similar qualities in their poems that transcend the locale. Two poems will be discussed that exemplify these qualities: “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” with “Birches” by Robert Frost and “Theme for English B” with “Visitors to the Black Belt” by Langston Hughes.
In his poem “Richard Cory,” Edwin Arlington Robinson uses death to shock the reader. He places the statement of this theme (death) very wisely in the last line of the poem. This not only catches the reader off guard but peaks their interest as well. Throughout the poem, he paints this beautiful picture of a very wealthy and admired gentleman. He speaks of this man’s “king-like” qualities and how everyone in town looks up to him with hopes of one day possibly achieving his status. Robinson never gives a hint or any reason what so ever for the reader to assume the theme of this poem has anything at all to do with death. Then, out of the blue, the main character Richard Cory kills himself. Robinson’s choice to make the death a suicide also adds to the readers “shock factor.” They are never going to expect this perfect gentleman to go and put a gun to his head and take his own life. This not only surprises the reader, but leaves them asking the question why. Why would this man who and anything and everything do this to himself? R...
Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 04 Dec. 2013. The "Biography of Langston Hughes." Poemhunter.com.
Syntax/Grammar/Diction: There is repetition of “always” in relation to how the townspeople describe him. This means that Richard Cory’s public appearances were routine and unchanging maybe even a false facade. The use of the colon to connect two full sentences serves to associate ideas. The diction of “imperially slim” (4), “glittered” (8), “fluttered” (7) and “admirably schooled” (11) all indicate Richard Cory’s apparent superiority over the rest of the townspeople.
The irony in the poem portrays the theme that looks can be very deceiving. Richard Cory was the perfect man, or so it seemed. No one saw what was going on underneath his perfect disguise. In the beginning of the poem we learn that Richard Cory is perfect and rich. Through his suicide, we learn that even Cory, a perfect man, was not as content as he seemed to others. The common people had a distorted view of Cory. They thought Cory was happy because he was wealthy and came across as perfect when in reality, he had faults and suffered. His appearance was deceiving as he hid his suffering with a mask- his looks, his riches, and the way he kept himself. Since he appeared to be of a higher class and richer than the common people, it would seem as though he would have no problems. Arlington emphasized how Corey had everything with his use of repetitiveness using “And” at the beginning of each line describing Cory’s characteristics. The common people judged Richard Cory based on what they saw, assuming he had the perfect life with everything he had, rather than who he was as a person. In “Cory”, there is no mention of Cory’s life on a personal level. The moral of this is not to judge a person by their looks, but rather who they really are because who they really are can be
Richard Cory poems are a traditional type of poetry found all throughout different time periods. The poems range from the original to song variations, all contributing their own perspectives on what Richard Cory symbolized, and each takes their own distinct form. Richard Cory poetry usual contains the distinct ending of Richard Cory taking his own life, but each poem adds its own variations to this repetitive theme. Throughout the poems, there are also many similar themes, which portray a consistent theme of the American Dream and how it transforms. Many symbolic issues that deal with this dream are related to wealth, which is the most prominent reoccurring theme in the two poems. Whereas Robinson's "Richard Cory" focuses on symbolic issues of wealth during an early time period, Paul Simon creates a contemporary "Richard Cory", showing the transformation of the American Dream coinciding with the passage of time.
”Richard Cory” is told from an outsider’s point of view, so that the reader does not gain any more insight into Cory’s mind then the people on the pavement. This also adds to the surprise when Cory, seemingly happy, puts a bullet in his head. Richard Cory had no friends the people of the town never really saw him as a person, in fact they never saw him at all, the “people on the pavement looked at him”, never spoke to him, he was only something to admire. He was a god in their eyes, almost holier than thou, “and he was rich-yes, richer than a king” yet He rarely spoke but when h...
We are able to gather the image of an extremely polished male who is not only a man but a gentleman. Richard is wealthy beyond measure and the people clearly lust for his riches. The metaphor throughout the poem which compares Richard to wealth teaches a strong lesson to the townspeople. The author closes this poem with the lines “And Richard Cory, one calm summer night / went home and put a bullet through his head. (15-16)” If we once again compare Richard to wealth, this phrase indicates that although the townspeople believe they will gain happiness from obtaining wealth, they may actually find that their calm is destroyed by wealth. Without the use of imagery and metaphor acting together throughout this piece of literature, it is my opinion that the reader may not have gained a clear picture of Richard Cory and his relationship of superiority with the people of the