An Analysis of Richard Cory, a Poem by Edwin Robinson

“Richard Cory” is a poem written by Edwin Arlington Robinson in 1897. It was part of The Children of the Night. This poem describes a person who is wealthy, well educated, mannerly, and admired by the people in his town. Despite all this, he still takes his own life. That’s why analyzing this poem is necessary. The title of the poem is “Richard Cory.” In the name Richard Cory if it’s closely looked at Rich is seen in the name.

Coincidence or intentional?

“We people on the pavement looked at him:” Robinson, Edwin. “Richard Cory” (Line 2). The using him in this line is meaning “Richard Cory.” Mensa Education & Research said “The narrator separates himself from Richard Cory by saying “We People”- like Cory is very different from everyone else. “He was a gentleman from sole to crown” Robinson, Edwin. “Richard Cory” (Line 3), means that from head to foot, Richard Cory looked the part of being rich. “And he was always quietly arrayed”Robinson, Edwin.

“Richard Cory” (Line 5). Richard Cory was always on display wherever he would go. “But still he fluttered pulses when he said,” Robinson, Edwin. “Richard Cory” (Line 7). Cory must have been so powerful that it scared some people. “Good Morning,’ and he glittered when he walked” Robinson, Edwin. “Richard Cory” (Line 8). This is a very connotative line since it uses the word ‘glittered’ in it. “Since no one can really “glitter” when he walks, the reader must imagine the effect Cory had on the town when he was there.

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It was similar to the term “star” applied to a celebrity,” says Mensa Education & Research. To sum up stanza three it’s about how they had just seen Cory in fine print. It is known because it say’s “In fine, Richard Cory…”

“And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,”Robinson, Edwin. “Richard Cory” (Line 15). “Cory’s neighbors in Tillbury Town, never learn: the night in which Cory shoots himself remains ‘calm’ in their view, and the use of the word only underlines the distance between his and them,” says Richard Gray. “Even the ‘calm’ summer night in “Richard Cory” isn’t quite the irrelevant detail it may at first seen, though the point it is making is admittedly an obvious one,” says John Lucas. “Went home and put a bullet through his head” Robinson, Edwin. “Richard Cory” (Line 16). “Richard Cory, miserable wretch, pulled the trigger on himself, thereby assuring us that the wealth most of us will never know is not worth having anyway,” says David Kelly. “The suicide of Richard Cory is not, or ought not to be a surprise. It is an inevitability, predetermined by the subjugation of selfhood,” says Radcliffe Squires.

In conclusion, “Richard Cory” is a very realistic poem. “First fourteen lines are a painstaking preparation for the last two, with their stunning overturn of the popular belief,” says Ellsworth Barnard. “Richard Cory” is wry, grim, and laconic,” says John Lucas. “Robinson uses simile and hyperbole here to emphasize Cory’s wealth,” says Mensa Education & Research. “Richard Cory’s self emerges neurotically perhaps; still it emerges triumphant over the imposed roles of success,” says Radcliffe Squires.