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Shvoong Home>Books>Poetry>Richard Cory Review

Richard Cory

Article Review   by:Sententia     Original Author: E.A. Robinson
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In E.A. Robinson’s poem “Richard Cory”, it is simply and eloquently demonstrated that the depth of a persons suffering can not be measured by his/her status in society. Robinson shows us in four short verses that happiness must be found in what we have, not what we wish to attain. In the first verse of “Richard Cory” we are taken to a hometown, and through the eyes of the average citizen see the hero of our community. With the use of past tense verbs, Robinson foreshadows the end of our story. Richard Cory was closely watched by those of us in the working class. Like an artifact in a museum, he was always seen and never touched. Some part of us knows that we must keep our distance. In lines one and two our vigilance is demonstrated. “When Richard Cory went downtown / We people on the pavement looked at him.” He was larger than us, bigger than our small lives. He had an elegance and air about him unmatched by any we knew. Robinson gives us the feeling that Richard Cory is like royalty with his use of words, such as “crown” to refer to his head, and also calling him “imperially slim”(3,4). Richard Cory was a likable man. We all genuinely thought well of him even though he was so much more fortunate than ourselves. He never spoke to us as though we were beneath him as Robinson implies here, “And he was always human when he talked” (6). But even so, we were intimidated by his presence, and when he spoke to us directly we were quite nervous. “But still he fluttered pulses when he said / ‘Good Morning’— and glittered when he walked,” for he shone in our eyes, like a diamond in the rough (7, 8). Perhaps we should have known then, what was to come. But with all that he had and all that he was, we could not imagine anything better than his life. Possessions don’t make very good friends or companions though, and in hindsight, we see that Richard Cory was quite alone. Our admiration of this man was the very thing that alienated him from the rest of the world. All this beauty he possessed, we thought was because he had all that a man could possibly desire in life. In lines nine and ten, Robinson shows how this must be true. “And of course he was rich, richer than a king, / And admirably schooled in every grace.” He was wealthy and educated, refined and poised. Certainly, this is what we all must want of life, for would we not also be beautiful? Would we not be admired if we too possessed these things? Surely this must be true, for as Robison states; Cory had enough, “To make us wish that we were in his place” (12). So we were covetous of who he was, and what he did. And we were envious of what he had.
But alas, we were not as Richard Cory, and went on with our awful lives. We were the ones doomed to suffer a petty existence, slaving for our possessions. “So on we worked and waited for the light” (13). It was us that should be bitter with what life had wrought, for we were deprived. “And we went without meat, and cursed the bread” (14). For is it not that for which we worked so hard? Is it not that which would make life good? Though it seemed so hopeless, wasn’t that to be the fruit of our labors? And yet here, something odd happens. Perhaps Richard Cory was not so perfect after all. “And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, / Went home and put a bullet through his head” (15, 16). With that Robinson ends his poem, and the story of our fallen hero. Indeed, a hero he is; first because he had so much, and in the end by taking his own life. Richard Cory rebelled against the stereotype that society had placed before him, and in his death, threw it back in our faces. More importantly though, Robinson creates another hero in ourstory with Cory's death; ourselves. Surviving this life, all its pressures, all its pitfalls and hardships, also is worthy of recognition. Cory beat the system in his death, and we beat the system by living. Robinson shows with this poem how terribly misguided our ideas of happiness can be. He draws us into a world that many of us can relate to. While it is written from the point of view of the average man/woman, it can also speak to those of the upper classes. Even those reading this that are endowed with great wealth or social advantages, may be able to closely relate to the pressures Richard Cory endured. His surprise ending not only closes the poem, but jolts us into some important realizations. Perhaps things are not made as easy as we have come to believe through luxuries and social status. Perhaps we have to look no further than ourselves to find a true hero. And perhaps even those that are smiling on the outside may be crying on the inside. By the end of this poem, Edwin Arlington Robinson has taught us that it is not that we must need what we want, but that we should want what we have.
Published: August 31, 2005   
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