Poem Analysis “Richard Cory” Edwin A. Robinson

The Poem

Whenever Richard Cory went down town, 
We people on the pavement looked at him: 
He was a gentleman from sole to crown, 
Clean-favoured and imperially slim. 

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
“Good morning,” and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich— yes, richer than a king—
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So, on we worked and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard, calm one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head

Analysis

Edwin Arlington Robinson was an effective creator of portraits in verse, particularly of modern men, one of which is Richard Cory, a well-respected man who had everything. Besides, the poem he made is a narrative (intended to tell a story). It makes use of a plot of symbolism combined with the element of contrast. Symbols can be things, events, and characters that are used to represent an abstract truth resulting in a didactic (morally instructive) story. For instance, the phrase “people on the pavement” is represented by night shift workers in factories, or people in general, the average person. ”Bread” is a symbol for food, actual want or bare necessity. “Meat” stands for the more desirable things in life. Richard Cory “glittered” shows the effect of his dazzling jewelry to symbolize luxury. “On we worked and waited for day” is a reference to the factory workers and their persistence and devotion to work or duty, no matter how difficult the working conditions may be.  From whole symbols can be concluded into two main contrasts: the gap between the rich and the poor; the meaningful life and perseverance of people in contrast with the meaningless life and despair of the materially-blessed.

Being wealthy doesn't mean that someone can buy everything even happiness, because in this poem Richard Cory find himself as a desperate man in the middle of his loneliness. Even he was very popular in society and all people admired him, he was not contented with his life. Deep in his heart, he was looking for missing link in his life and that was to be happy. He was very rich as describe in the poem "he was rich-yes richer than a King" and he was described also as a well educated and a well mannered man. All people knew that he had everything and they were wishing to be in his place because they were only an ordinary people, as a poor people, working hard in order to have food to eat in order to survive their lives. However, their thoughts and beliefs about Richard Cory were wrong because as describe in the poem, "one calm summer night, went home and put a bullet through his head", he commit suicide to kill himself. This mean that being rich doesn't mean that you can buy everything even happiness. Happiness cannot be bought by money, being happy means that you enjoy the essence of life. Enjoying life with others, sharing your blessings and be thankful to God can make you happy.

In this poem, Richard Cory had felt sad and desperate in his life so he committed suicide, which was a wrong way of solving his problem. If he thinks more extensively that he could share his blessing with others or help the people in his community, he will find the happiness. Likewise, he could also talk to his fellow and tell about his problem, so it was also the effective way to find the happiness that he was looking for. In the real world like where we are now, we could also feel sadness and feel desperate as if we were alone and doesn't belong to the group. But it doesn't mean that you will kill yourself just like in the poem, what Richard Cory did, because it’s a sin in the religious people’s lives. We could probably tell others about our problem and enjoy life. Life is short, so enjoy it everyday and be thankful to God that you had given another life and always think positive and be happy!