Richard Cory

BY EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON

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 richyes, 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 through his head.

1) Review some of the words used to describe Corey. Why does the voice of the
poem focus so much on Richard Cory's regal nature? Use specific examples.

2) Why would the author set the scene as a calm summer night at the end of
the poem? What effect does that have on the tone and the message of the
poem?

3) Choose a line from the poem that you found particularly interesting or
engaging and write it below. Then write the literal meaning of the linein
other words, translate it into your own, everyday language. How do the
authors word choices help develop the meaning and tone of the poem?

4) Choose three words or phrases that have a connotationnegative or positive.

In the chart below, write the denotative meaning, connotative meaning and
explain what impact the connotation has on the way the reader views either
Richard Corey or the speaker.
Word or phrase

Denotative
meaning

Connotation

Impact on the
reader/tone