Critique on "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Richard Cory

Edwin Arlington  Robinson

 

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 Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet in his head. 

Study

A.Origin

          Edwin Arlington Robinson had an unhappy childhood in Maine, United States. His older brother died because of drug overdose. His other brother, Herman, married the woman the author loved. Yet, Herman suffered from business failures, became alcoholic and died in a charity hospital. With this, we can say that Edwin Arlington Robinson refers Robert Cory to his brother Herman.

B. Form and Structure

          Richard Cory is a poem written in rhyming couplets, an iambic pentameter. This means that each line is consist of ten syllables and it follows the rhyme scheme abab. It has four stanzas in total.

          In the first stanza, the main character Richard Cory was introduced. The second stanza focused on the manner of speaking of the main character. The third stanza emphasized the desire of people to be in his place. The fourth stanza provided a tragic ending of the main character.

C. Theory

          Aestheticism was used in the poem. The way the narrator described how they look upon Richard Cory and how they wished to be in his position was emphasized. The poem also had a twist with its dramatic ending which makes the readers think of the reason why that thing happened.

Analyze

Components

          Edwin Arlington Robinson speaks in the poem. It is apparently about the author's admiration of Robert Cory's character. Let's analyze the following lines:

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

          *The physical attributes of Richard Cory were described.

 And he was always quietly arrayed, (a)
And he was always human when he talked; (b)
But still he fluttered pulses when he said, (a)
"Good Morning!" and he glittered when he walked. (b)

          *The personality of Richard Cory was given emphasis.

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.

          *On the third stanza, people believed that Richard Cory had a perfect and wonderful life.

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

*The last stanza presented  the complication of the poem. Readers would then think of the main reason why Richard Cory committed suicide.

          If we are to compare it to the manner of death of Herman, he died of natural cause because of alcoholism. In the poem, an exaggerated version of what happened to Herman (Robert Cory) was made. This provides a greater effect as readers read the poem.

Interpret

          The basic idea which the poem expressed was "Money can't buy people happiness." People may think that having lot of money will enable them to escape from the troubles and loneliness of the world. Yet, money sometimes brings people away from "real happiness." Broken families, depression and uncertainty will arise from it if the person involved in such situation loses the ability to think with rationality.