‘Richard Cory’ by Edwin Arlington Robinson is a simple poem about Cory which conveys the idea that money cannot buy happiness. It also throws light on misleading outward appearances of people which can easily make us draw wrong conclusions about situations. The poem relates the story of Richard Cory, who was a very wealthy man. He lived the life of a king: rich, elegant, and graceful. Whenever Cory passed by pavement dwellers, he appeared to be godly to those poor people who had seen nothing more than misery in their lives. They could not even earn their daily bread properly and continued to dwell in their misery.
In such miserable times, Cory appeared to come from heaven whenever he passed by the poor people. He was a thorough gentleman, dressed like a king, elegant, graceful and of an impeccable character. He glittered with light as he passed by, greeting everybody he saw, as though he was most willing to talk to anybody. Cory’s life was a dream to the pavement dwellers, who admired him greatly for his elegance and cursed themselves for their misfortune. While they felt this way, Richard Cory went home one day and killed himself by putting a bullet in his head. This was a shocking end to Cory’s so-called ‘perfect life’.
The story of Richard Cory is narrated by the poet himself who is a part of the ‘we’ stated in the poem. He describes Cory as an ethereal person who was free of any worldly difficulties which only the common man was subjected to. Cory’s description elates the reader and makes him think very highly of Cory. However, the shocking end of Cory is a real surprise to the reader which forces him to think deeply if only wealth can make a person truly happy.
The poem is a narrative one which makes use of an ABAB rhyme scheme. This rhyme scheme is typical of Robinson’s style of writing. The rhyme scheme gives a rhythm to the thoughts of the readers. The poet makes use of metaphors such as ‘richer than a king’ and ‘fluttered pulses’, to add admiration for Cory. The majority of the poem describes Cory as an ethereal person which makes the reader feel that he led a perfect life. Only in the last few lines does the reader really wonder if Cory was really happy and led a perfect life.
The use of words like ‘crown’ and ‘imperially slim’ is puns which have been used to describe the kingly life led by Cory. The element of irony can also be seen in the poem when Cory dies a shocking death in spite of his kingly life. The poem also lays stress on the wide gap that exists between socio-economic classes. It tries to elucidate on the miseries of the poor by using words such as ‘without the meat’ and ‘cursed the bread’.
Richard Cory’s life represents the life of several people who have misleading outward appearances but who may be very lonely from the inside, craving for love, care, affection, true relationships etc. Such necessities cannot be bought by money as could be seen from Cory’s life. True happiness comes from giving and sharing. There was emptiness in Cory’s life, not seen by many. No mention of love, people and relationships in the poem makes the reader feel how lonely Cory really was.
Work Cited
Robinson, Edwin Arlington. “Richard Cory.” Mays, Kelly J. The Norton Introduction to
Literature. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. 456. Print.
