Richard Cory

by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Richard Cory is a poem written by Edwin Arlington Robinson in 1897. In this poem the author tries
to convey that appearance is mask to cover Cory’s reality. Robinson's poem is about the thoughts
of a suicidal wealthy man and those of the city that observe him in his daily life. In Richard Cory,
Robinson's message is that things are not always what they seem to be, and money doesn't always
make people happy.

Richard Cory’s life looks so enviable, the poem start describing a well-respected and admirable man
we can see this in this line “He was a gentleman from sole to crown’’, but at the end the poem takes
an unexpected turn with this line “Went home and put a bullet through his head’ ’This make me
wonder that he was faking his real emotion and seems to hide them from the rest of the world
through his nice daily routine. Keeping his emotions repressed, he may have broken and decided he
doesn't want to live anymore.

In the poem it doesn’t say anything about someone by his side, only people from the side of the
street looking at him like he has a perfect life that they want to be him “To make us wish that we
were in his place’’. He seems to be a solitary man with a perfect life.

In conclusion, I think this poem is trying to tell us that things are not always what they seem to be,
and money doesn’t mean happiness and mental health is more important than anything. Cory’s
seemed to be a man with a perfect life with money to buy anything he want, that sound wonderful
enough to live a nice life, but it wasn’t enough to Cory that ended up committing suicide. His
mental health was not in good condition, maybe he had depression and felt lonely and no money
can fix that. So take into account that money it is no equal to happiness, mental health is.