An Explication of Edwin Arlington Robinson’s, “Richard Cory” Essay Example

slim” as a description.By the end of the first stanza, it is clear that Richard Cory is recognized by the working class as someone residing in a higher social class. In the first 2 lines of the second stanza, Robinson eradicates any misconception that Richard Cory may be arrogant. The lines, “And he was always quietly arrayed, / And he was always human when he talked” (l.

5-6) authenticate his modesty. The literary sense of the word “array” refers to impressive clothes. The idea that Cory “... was always quietly arrayed” shows that he dressed nicely but was not gaudy.

In fact, as depicted in line 6, Richard Cory possessed a “human” attribute which was apparently not thought to be possessed by people of his stature. These very people that noticed his personable nature had “flutter[ing] pulses when he said, / ‘Good-morning’” (l. 7-8). This comes across as a feeling of discomfort, as if they felt undeserving of his presence.

The last line in the second stanza says that “…he glittered when he walked”, (l. 8) which further supports his overall happy-go-lucky demeanor. In fact, Richard went out of his way to befriend people.At this point in the poem, Richard Cory has been put on a pedestal by the common man, but now we can see that he is, in fact, an upstanding individual.

In the third stanza, Robinson goes a step further by showing that Richard Cory had more than personality; he was well “…richer than a king“(l. 9) and “admirably schooled in every grace” (l. 10), implying that he was well-educated. “In fine [short], we thought that he was everything / To make us

wish that we were in his place” (l. 11-12).

This is saying that Richard Cory embodied everything that the townsmen could ever want, embracing the grass is greener ideology.Richard Cory certainly appears to have everything. The first line of the forth stanza: “so on [they] worked, and waited for the light” (l. 13), solidifies their supposed idea that, as common folk, they could never reach the level of happiness that Mr. Cory has, so they go back to the monotony of their days.

“Wait[ing] for the light” (l. 13) implying, metaphorically, that they are living in the dark [ignorance] with the idea that that money and education are the backbone to happiness. The next line: “And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;” (l. 4) shows that they are without the “meat” of happiness, thus discontent with what they have [bread].

This sets us up for the paradoxical conclusion to the poem: “And Richard Cory, one calm summer night; / Went home and pit a bullet through his head” (l. 15-16). Robinson composed “Richard Corey” in four stanzas; each with alternating rhyme scheme (abab cdcd efef ghgh), assembled using the most common meter in poetry, iambic pentameter. Of these stanzas, it is only the last line, when he ends his life, that it becomes clear that Richard Cory was not happy.

This intentional structure coincides with majority of real life struggles, where even the people closest to the one who commits suicide do not know the extent of their unhappiness until the act has been carried out. The obvious overtone of “Richard Cory” is that perception is not necessarily reality. The townsmen that watched him

everyday perceived him to be happy, but the reality was that he was so miserable that he committed suicide. Robinson portrayed Richard Cory as having everything. The fact that Robinson failed to make mention of a meaningful relationship in the poem, may be a eflection of the deficiency of it in Richard Cory’s life. The true irony in this poem is that the one thing that Richard Cory lacked in his life, friendship, was the one thing the townsmen could have provided.

Had they not hesitated to nourish his friendship, Richard Cory may have had a reason to live. Work Cited Rich, Adrienne. “Richard Cory” Literature And The Writing Process. Ed.

Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day, and Robert Funk. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. 564.