Richard Cory

Edwin Arlington Robinson (1865 – 1935)

Edwin Arlington Robinson was an American poet who was the winner of three Pulitzer Prizes for poetry and a Gold
Medal for poetry from the American academy of Arts and Letters. Many of his works deal with failed lives. ‘Richard
Cory’ is a narrative poem published in 1897 in a collection of poems entitled “Children of the Night”. He never married
and died of cancer in 1935.

This poem, composed in the form of a ballad, is embedded with the old adage (= over used common saying considered as a
cliché) “Appearances are deceptive”. Some critiques consider the poem as a modern ballad as it deals with the tragic end of
Richard Cory’s life comprising many features of a ballad.

An analysis of the poem

This poem is based on the economic depression that existed in America in the year 1893 which caused financial crisis in the
country especially affecting working class people. The social gulf or gap created between the upper class and the lower class
resulted in class distinction that led to differences in social status, education and upbringing of these two classes. Richard
Cory represents the upper class in the American society whereas the ‘downtown’ people represent the lower class.
The first stanza of the poem deals with the ‘voice’ or the opinion of the poor people about Richard Cory. For
them he was a gentleman from ‘sole to crown’. When they compared his decent dress code with their ragged and tattered
clothes they felt as if he was a superman while they were beggars. Their estimation of R.C.’s status is exaggeratedly high
since they considered that he was even ‘richer than a king’. His education, good manners and proper upbringing impressed
them very positively and even made them feel envious about him. According to their view point, he was the ideal model of
human personality with graceful mannerism and decent conduct cultivated by education. So they were yearning to become
somebody like him.
However, with the passing of time, there was no progress in the living standards of pavement people as the
country’s economy was going down gradually. The poor were waiting for a prosperous period as they had to perish by eating
bread even without meat. ‘One calm summer night’, quite unexpectedly, they came to know that Richard Cory, their iconic
idol, had shot himself dead. This is the climax of the poem that lies in the final two lines which makes the reader surprise and
be shocked as to why R.C. made such a horrible decision to suicide on ‘one clam summer night’. This tragic incident brings
out the psychological problem with which Richard Cory must have been perishing due to loneliness.

The themes of the poem

Coming under the main theme ‘society’ the poem seems to convey several specific themes as well.

 The realities of human societies and the false social values

In the human society there exist false values such as “money is everything” or “money can purchase happiness”.
But in reality more than money, riches or properties, people need peace of mind, mental satisfaction and mutual
understanding between each other. The poor people who lived on the pavement may have thought that the
reason for their failure was their financial problems only but if they knew that a person like R.C. also suffered
after being the possessor of all the comforts under the sun, they would not look down upon themselves for their
lower living conditions.

 Different perspectives of social standards

Richard Cory, belonging to the elite class with refined manners and behaviour, symbolically denotes the
perspectives of high social standards. On the other hand, the living standards of the downtown people living on
 the pavement depict very low social standards of working class people. This circumstance in the society makes
a huge gap between the rich and the poor.

 Appearance versus reality / appearances are deceptive

When pavement people met R.C. in the morning as he went down town, they were highly impressed about him
due to his magnificent appearance, elegant and well-mannered conduct and his down-to-earth quality as he said
‘Good Morning!’ to them without being arrogant. They were even jealous of him for his higher status. But they
had no idea how R.C. must have experienced a dissatisfied life as a result of loneliness and friendlessness. Their
wrong judgment of R.C. is due to their false social values. (= judging people by what he had rather than what he
really was)

 The human need for socialization

The main reason for R.C.’s mental stress and depression must have been lack of socialization. That is why R.C.
fluttered pulses when he said good morning. A human needs to communicate and socialize with his fellow
members in the society to maintain a healthy mentality. For this purpose, communication, mutual understanding
and maintaining friendships and relationships are compulsory.

The techniques and literary terms available in the poem

 Metaphors eg:- . . . he glittered when he walked. (Richard Cory is directly compared to a shining star.)
‘Imperially slim’ metaphorically compares R.C. to a king.

 Symbolism eg:- ‘Bread without meat’ symbolically implies the poverty of pavement people.
“ . . . waited for the light,” ‘Light’ symbolizes happy, comfortable life with riches.

 Consonance eg:- But still he fluttered pulses when he said,

‘Good Morning,’ and glittered when he walked.

 Hyperbole eg:- He was richer than a king. (His richness is exaggerated excessively.)
 End rhyme eg:- town him arrayed talked king grace light bread
crown slim said walked thing place night head

 Simple diction eg:- The words chosen by the poet to convey his themes are very simple; the simple
diction is, anyways, more apt to represent the voice of uneducated downtown people.

 Anaphora eg:- And he was always quietly arrayed,

And he was always human when he talked;
And he was rich – yes, richer than a king –

 Irony eg:- It is so ironic that a gentleman like Richard Cory who had everything such as money,
education, good looks and etc. committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a gun.

Prepared by Prasad Rathnasekara

[BA (Eng), MA (Linguistics), Music Visharad (Vocal) Contact on 071 8617810