Names: Grade and Section:

Richard Cory
By Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935)
1 Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
2 We people on the pavement looked at him: Vocabulary:
3 He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Pavement (n.) a side walk; a hard surface of a road
4 Clean favored, and imperially slim. or street.
Sole to crown means foot to head
5 And he was always quietly arrayed,
6 And he was always human when he talked; Clean favored means neat and respectable
7 But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
8 “Good morning”, and he glittered when he walked. Imperially (adv.) domineering, of a commanding
quality

9 And he was rich-yes, richer than a king- Arrayed (v.) dress someone in (the clothes specified)
10 And admirably schooled in every grace:
Fluttered pulses mean nervous, not socially confident
11 In fine, we thought that was everything
12 To make us wish that we were in his place. Glittered (v.) shine as a result of a strong feeling
Cursed (v.) use coarse or blasphemous language to
13 So on we worked, and waited for the light, express anger or other strong emotion.
14 And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
15 And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
16 Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Poetry Analysis
The following instructions will help you uncover the meaning of the poem.
1. What does the title mean?
2. Who is the subject of the poem?
3. What is it about?
Poetic devices: Identify different poetic devices and how they convey the poem’s message.
4. Point of view- who is telling the poem Form
5. Theme-what is the central or main idea of the 7. Stanza-how many stanza(s) is/are there?
poem
8. Rhyme-what words rhyme together?
6. Symbolism-What symbols could be found in
9. Rhyme scheme-which pattern the poem
the poem?
follows