Richard Cory

American Lit (poem)

Richard Cory

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.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good Morning!" and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich, yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine -- we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked and waited for the light,
And went without the meat and cursed the bread,
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet in his head.

Edwin Arlington Robinson 

                                                 Overall Review

• First Published: 1897
• Type of Work: Poem
• Genres: Poetry
• Subjects: United States or Americans, Suicide, Nineteenth century,Depression, economic, Upper classes, Loneliness, Wealth, Cities or towns

Analysis

“Richard Cory,” which first appeared in The Children of the Night and remains one of Robinson’s most popular poems, recalls the economic depression of 1893. At that time, people could not afford meat and had a diet mainly of bread, often day-old bread selling for less than freshly baked goods. This hard-times experience made the townspeople even more aware of Richard’s difference from them, so much so that they treated him as royalty.

Although the people were surprised that Richard came to town dressed “quietly” and that he was “always human when he talked” (that is, he did not act superior), they nonetheless distanced themselves from him. This distance is suggested by the narrator’s words “crown,” “imperially,” “grace,” “fluttered pulses,” and “glittered.” The townspeople never stopped to consider why Richard dressed and spoke the way he did, why he came to town when everyone else was there, or even why he tried to make contact with them by saying “good morning.”

Richard was wealthy, but (as his name hints) he was not rich at the life-core of himself. Despite his efforts at communal connection, Richard’s wealth isolated him from others. He was alone. If the townspeople wished they were in his place because of his wealth, he in turn wished he were one of them because they were rich in one another’s company. The townspeople failed to appreciate the value of their mutual support of one another, their nurturing communal togetherness. So one hot, breeze less summer night (before the availability of electric fans or air conditioners), Richard lay awake, unable to sleep or to stop painful thoughts. Depressingly lonely, he ended his friendless life. The poem’s reader is supposed to understand what the townspeople did not understand about Richard’s suicide: that there was a price, in a human rather than in a monetary sense, that he paid for being perceived to be “richer than a king.”

End Rhyme

.......In each stanza of "Richard Cory," the final syllable of the first line rhymes with the final syllable of the third, and the final syllable of the second line rhymes with the final syllable of the fourth. The first stanza illustrates the pattern.

Whenever Richard Cory went downtown,

We people on the pavement looked at him;

He was a gentleman from sole to crown,

Clean favored, and imperially slim.

Internal Rhyme

.......Robinson also used internal rhyme in "Richard Cory." Following are examples.

Whenever Richard Cory went downtown (line 1)
To make us wish that we were in his place (line 12)
Went home and put a bullet through his head (line 16)

Meter

.......Most of the lines in the poem are in iambic pentameter. Lines 1-3 demonstrate this pattern:

.......1..............2...............3................4................5

When EV..|..er RICH..|..ard COR..|..y WENT..|..down TOWN,

.......1.............2..............3.....................4..................5
We PEO..|..ple ON..|..the PAVE..|..ment LOOKED..|..at HIM;

.......1.............2..............3................4...................5
He WAS..|..a GEN..|..tle MAN..|..from SOLE..|..to CROWN,

.......1................2................3...........4............5
Clean FA..|..vored AND..|..im PER..|..i AL..|..ly SLIM

Figures of Speech

Alliteration

Whenever Richard Cory went downtown (line 1)

people on the pavement (line 2)

wish that we were in his place (line 12)

we worked, and waited

Anaphora

And he was always quietly arrayed,

And he was always human when he talked (lines 5-6)

Metaphor

So on we worked, and waited for the light