Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, 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 through his head.
When i first read this poem, i immediately became intrigued. This poem just shows, like everyone else has said, that we cannot judge someone based on the outside. He (Richard) was rich, etc. but there were other problems. He was just not in place in society. Maybe the reason why Robinson named him Richard was b/c the character was rich! (LOL…Just my thought, Rich is rich!)
In my english 1010 class, my professor analyzed this poem to be about jesus christ. He said that richard cory “gave himself up”, everyone admired him… “cursed the bread” that kind of thing… but I disagree. I think that the underlying meaning that that no matter what you think about other people, no matter how much you may covet what they have, You would never want anyone elses problems, and everyone has their own struggles to worry about.
I THINK RICHARD CORY WAS AN AMAZING POEM! IM NOT A POEM PERSON BUT I HAVE TO ANALYZE ONE FOR ENGLISH 3 AND WHEN I READ THIS ONE I LOVED IT! LIKE SOMEONE ELSE SAID HE KILLED HIMSELF BECAUSE HE WASN’T HAPPY EVEN THOUGH HE HAD MONEY-MONEY DOESN’T BUY HAPPINESS.
this poem realy open my view of people and i realized that people are not always what they seem. This is one of my favorite poems and im in high school and out of all the boring stuff they showed us this is by far the best i ever heard.
this poem ranked in the charts! the title itself says the reason why richard cory commited suicide……..the CORE of being RICH is HARD…….he can’t take it anymore because money can’t buy happiness; and this is the reality of life in which the poem depicts.
I am doing a report on this poem, its literary merits/qualities. I think it has many. I think this poem is a good portrayal of naturalism because it depicts life’s raw, harsh truth without the glitter or sugarcoating. I think a lot can be gained by studying this work, because not only does it have so much included in the literary aspect, but it has such a life lesson also. This is one of Robinson’s best works, I think.
i love this poem, so im using it for my h.w. im only in 7th! lol
This poem is the best example of irony applied in real life situation. Arlington clearly emphasizes in this poem that we cannot judge someone’s happiness based merely on physical appearance and possessions. Well-endowed physical features and wealth do not promise a successful life. After Richard Cory killed himself, we come to realize that even him does not have a ”perfect” life, contrary to what most people believed in. What an irony indeed!
Our society needs to quit wanting and believing that everyone has a better life then theirs.This poem is a good example for stating that we cannot jugde the outer appearance of someone especially if there wealthy does not obviously mean that they have all the happiness and wonderful life. After Richard Cory kills himself, we realize that his ”perfect” life is far from true
-Polic
I first read this poem as a senior in high school. Among all the boring poems we studied that I didn’t even understand, Richard Cory was definitly my favorite.
This poem really spoke to me. It told me that to some people physical things are everything and to some others they could care less about them. Never judge a book by its cover.
This poem speaks about society and how young people are influenced by society
i love this poem! it cracks me up!!!
This poem is one of the best examples of how we cope with life. Either we change or we die. Its as simple as that. We hide our identities and make everyone believe that we’re in command, that nothing can ever shatter our resolve. In the end, it’s still the same old story: we’re just fooling ourselves and everybody else. Nobody knows us enough so everyone else will simply judge us by how we carry ourselves.
i think Richard Cory is one of the best poems I have ever read. To me, it shows that someone can have everything in the world; money, estates, lands etc. but if they don’t have someone to share it with , it’s as though they don’t have it at all. Richard Cory had no mention of family, friends, or pets. so, i would say that he was lonely and depressed slightly. So he put a bullet through his head. A really remarkble poem that caught my attention.
This is very typical of Robinson: the very last lines are decisive.They tell us about spiritual emptiness of the character behind the glitter of his appearance. It is not misunderstanding or envy of others that made him commit suicide, but his own lack of firm spiritual ground.The theme so common to the poet’s contemporaries.
It is One of the best poems, it shows how ironic it is that someone who has everything still has nothing. I’m donig a poem explication of it. I have already wrote enough info about the poem to talk for 5 min., it is a poem evryone should read
like some people, i for one have also never heard of this poem until my english teacher assigned me to read it. The poem was one of the best I’ve read. it’s wry, cerebral, and ironic. The idiom is itself “admirably schooled”. What’s good, is that I learned something from it!-how little we really know about the lives of others!
I had never heard of this poem until I read an article recently where Michel Eisner of the Walt Disney Co. quoted it. The article was about a lawsuit of whether Michael Ovitz deserved all the severance pay that he received in hundreds of milions of dollars when he was released from his top dog Disney job. The board of directors wanted the money back. Apparently, Eisner was afraid that Ovitz, at the time, would have committed suicide. Like how Richard Cory put a bullet in his head.
Richard Cory is one of the top ten poems ever written. I also love Bewick Finzer and Llewellyn And The Tree and many many more. My other favorite poet is Thomas Hardy.
My Book: Bedlam In A One Man Band (available online) A 2nd book forthcoming in mid 2005.