Student: Minh Quang Dang

Dozentin: Prof. Aleksandra Boss

Seminar: Text Analysis

Essay
Edwin Arlington Robinson’s “Richard Cory“

“Richard Cory“ - the name of one of Edwin Arlington Robinson’s most notable poems
in his poetry collection “Children of the Night“, first published in 1897, tells the story of an
idealized, upper-class man who in all his wealth, superior social standing and virtuousness
takes his own life. In stark contrast to Richard Cory, name of said man, the speaker, a
representer of a communal “we“, portrays the the average mediocre life of a working lower
class that is bowing, metaphorically, in envy and admiration alike, down to the light that Cory
attained. His life is narrated to be grandiose up until the very end of the poem, in the fourth
and last stanza and in its very last sentence. It reveals him as someone vulnerable who is
anything but perfect. Robinson seems to question the perceived value of such life and the
implied attitude, putting such life on a pedestal and wanting to have it become reality, that
one has towards seeing it.
The first stanza characterizes Richard Cory outwardly from the perspective of a later to
be found lower class “we“. The theme of a collective is introduced during the first stanza and
reoccurs in the third and fourth stanza. (“We people..“ (3), “In fine, we thought …/ To make
us wish that we were in his place“ (11-12)), “So on we worked…“(13). It contrasts Cory and
the community emphasizing his high social standing. As one of “[the] people on the
pavement“ (2), the speaker describes Cory as a “gentleman from sole to crown“ (3) “sole“
and “crown“ alluding to the saying “a sound mind in a sound body“, he is to be admired from
“sole“ (=“soul“) to “crown“ (=„mind“), from “heart to mind“, the mental and spiritual part of
the body, and from “sole“ to “crown“ as to “from head to toe“, the physical part of the body.
The speaker proceeds: he is “clean favored, and imperially slim“ (4), both suggesting that he
is of physical attractiveness. There are numerous insinuations of him being comparable to

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kings and possessing features of royalty. First indicators are in the first stanza: him having a
“crown“ (3) and being “imperially slim“ (4). The name “Richard Cory“ may leave a strong
impression, the forename originating from Germanic language: “ric“ meaning “ruler, mighty,
king“ and “hard“ meaning “hardy, brave“ - elements associated with the title character.
Continuing with the second stanza, contrary to what one of particular prejudice might think,
Cory is considered a humble and very sensible person. He is “quietly arrayed“ and “always
human when he talked“ (5,6). Arraying oneself means to dress particularly and beautiful.
That might lead one to believe that his purpose is to draw attention to his attire, suggesting
that Cory is pompous about his riches. That notion is being contradicted by saying that he
“quietly arrays [himself]“, an oxymoron. The frequent use of “and“, e.g. in line 4, 5, 6, 8, 9,
10 enumerate his good characteristics and are polysyndeton that underline his virtuousness. It
continues: “But still he fluttered pulses when he said, / "Good-morning," and he glittered
when he walked.“ (7-8) To be in his mere presence is perceived as pleasant, Robinson depicts
in metonymies: people’s hearts were “fluttering“, a metaphor saying that their pulses were
increasing in his presence and he “glittered“, referring to perhaps jewelry hinting at his
riches. The third stanza cements the speakers and the communities attitude towards Richard
Cory. The speaker affirms of Corys kingliness hyperbolically by declaring him to be “richer
than a king“ (9). The only hyphen in the entirety of the poem in line 9 serves as caesura
further stressing this point. And just about when the speaker elevates his comparisons of Cory
from kinglike to someone who is even blessed [by god], he is “schooled in every grace“ (10),
he comes to the conclusion that he is to be envied and replaced: “In fine, we thought that he
was everything / To make us wish that we were in his place.“ This seemingly innocuous wish
bears a sinister connotation: The phrase “in fine“ could mean a multitude of things. “Finery,
his fancy clothes and riches, fin(-ale) foreshadowing the end of his life and lastly “monetary
fine“, the consequence of him losing his life [and somebody else attaining it]. The last line in
the third stanza expresses envy: “To make us wish that we were in his place“. In here the
rhyme, which consistently follows an ABAB-scheme, plays a role. The rhyming words of
line 10 and 12 “grace“ and “place“ correspond and connect the two lines. They form the
meaning that in Cory there is a godly spirit that enables his both worldly and spiritually
successful life that it is of desire and wish, “prayers“, of a commoner. The fourth stanza
reinforces that idea of envy and its accompanying dark undertone and “so on [they] worked,

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and waited for the light, / And went without the meat, and cursed the bread,“ (13-14) The
“meat“ and the “bread“ summarize the despair and disparity, that the working class
experiences in its fullness. The “meat“ represents the luxury, that they desire and yearn for,
the “bread“ represents the common, the average and the mediocre that they have and detest.
Finally, the poems last conjunction “and“, formerly used to foretell a positive thing about
Richard Cory, marks the beginning of the end of Corys life: “And Richard Cory, one calm
summer night, / Went home and put a bullet through his head.“ (15-16) Consistent on the
poems iambic pentameter tied with the very short, forceful but off-setting mention of a “calm
summer night“, Corys life comes to a dark and violent, out-of-character end, much to the
irony of the speakers euphoric description of Corys life in former stanzas, which corresponds
with the celebrated perception of it.
Contextually the poem was published a few years after the economic panic in 1893, the
poems themes of wealth and poverty align with its historical background. Tilbury town, a
fictional American town in which many of Robinsons poems play, is modeled after
Robinsons hometown Gardiner. It is objected to being criticized by Robinson himself:
As Robinson saw it, the town’s Puritan ethic, portrayed as repressive and
critical, combined with the materialistic aspects of society, conspires to beat
down its citizens. (Bill)
The poem might also be read as a critiquing statement towards the materialistic aspect of his
surrounding society and the obliviousness to its toxic facet that is partly faulted due to their
fixation on working rigorously and partly due to detachment from truthfulness to oneself.

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References

Rubins, Dan. "Richard Cory." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 8 May 2019. Web. 26 Dec 2020.

"Cory, Richard." Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature, Merriam-Webster, 1995. Gale

Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A148916545/LitRC?
u=humboldt&sid=LitRC&xid=7f1433ac. Accessed 28 Dec. 2020.

"Overview: 'Richard Cory'." Poetry for Students, edited by Mary Ruby, vol. 4, Gale, 1999. Gale
Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1430000410/LitRC?
u=humboldt&sid=LitRC&xid=bebc3ecd. Accessed 28 Dec. 2020.

Peschel, Bill (2000). “Robinson, Edwin Arlington“. American National Biography (online ed.). New
York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1601393

Zietlow, Paul. “The Meaning of Tilbury Town: Robinson as a Regional Poet.” The New England
Quarterly, vol. 40, no. 2, 1967, pp. 188–211. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/363767. Accessed 2 Jan.
2021.

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