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Richard Cory - Analysis. ... Soon afterward, I realized the author meant Richard Cory
was not a conceited or arrogant man; he was a friendly man. ...
Richard Cory - Analysis. Many ... In the poem Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson,
the author tries to communicate several things. Robinsons ...
Richard Cory, Poetry Explication. Explication ... shock. The first stanza of the
poem introduces Richard Cory as a respected man of town. ...
Richard Cory. Explication ... The poem is basically an extended description of
a man, a very rich, successful man, named Richard Cory. The ...
Richard cory. Richard Cory The poem “Richard Cory” is a strong poem that was written
by two different authors, Edwin Robinson and Paul Simon. ...
Submitted by anozida on February 28, 2008
Category: English
Words: 281 | Pages: 2
Views: 67
Popularity Rank: 101,623
Average Member Grade: N/A (Add a Comment / Grade this Paper)
In his poem "Richard Cory," Edwin Arlington Robinson suggests that happiness is
mistakenly associated with wealth and prestige. He does this by depicting the admired
Richard Cory who to the ordinary townspeople, "we people on the pavement" (line2),
seems to have everything. In fact, to the townsfolk, Cory is like a god of sorts because the speaker says that Cory "was always human when he talked" (line 4), as if he were some
immortal. The first two stanzas of the poem show how special Cory seems: he is "a
gentleman from sole to crown" (line3), he is "imperially slim" (line4), and he excites the
ordinary people, "flutter[ing] pulses" (line7) when he talked to them. We also learn that
he was "richer than a king"(line9) and that he was educated and classy, "schooled in
every grace"(line 1 0). Most importantly, we learn that the ordinary people wished to be
just like him and their envy made them unhappy with their seemingly hum-drum lives:
they "cursed the bread"(line 14), and wanted more of the luxuries of life, more of the
"light"(line 13) and less of the work. Surprisingly, however, by the last two lines of the
poem, we discover that, apparently without any warning, Richard Cory killed himself,
putting "a bullet through his head." Since the poem ends with that shocking information,
we readers are forced to figure out what Robinson is getting at by depicting Cory as
suicidal even when he seemed to have everything. We realize that the point of the poem
is that wealth does not necessarily bring happiness and that people who envy those who
seem to have more luxury and prestige may be in for a big surprise.
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