Richard Cory

“Richard Cory” was written by Edwin Arlington Robinson in 1897.From the title we establish that we will be reading about Richard Cory but we don’t know exactly what will be discussed. We then read the poem and understand the issue he wrote about still exists today. The poem shows the difference between image and reality. It shows how someone who appears to have everything in life according to other’s societal beliefs may have a very different perception of their lives. Robinson wants us to understand that no life is perfect and every person rich or poor has certain drawbacks to deal with. In the first three stanzas we are giving a description of Richard Cory that he is viewed as a wealthy man who has no worries. He has it all. He lives uptown the narrator tells us and then “the people on the pavement looked at him” (2). This is the image of how we perceive people who are better than us, we put them on a pedestal hence the line “went downtown “(1) meaning he is above them they are just low on the ground almost feel like peasants at his feet. Robinson conveys an image of royalty when describing Richard. An example is “imperially slim” (4), we associate wealthy people as robust joyful looking and for him to be describes as slim is ironic. When you watch television or read a book about wealthy men they are always described as more hefty than slim. As I reread this I started to think maybe this line is gearing us towards he could have been sickly even though he was dressed tastefully and was pleasant. Another example is the word “crown” (3) and he “was richer than a king” (9). We put so much emphasis on the rich part of the person that we forget they have feelings and they have a life outside of being the celebrity that we treat them to be. These false things we worship about them makes us not open up to them and befriend them because we think we are lowly for their company. In the third stanza we feel the tone changes. The narrator states” In fine, we