The poem "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson and "The Bishop of Atlanta: Ray Charles" by Julian Bond are both describing men with the initials RC, but these men are not the same. While these poems are similar I see some differences in the theme imagery, and voice used by the poets.
In Robinsons poem we are introduced Richard Cory, a man that is looked up to by all the common "town" people. These people admire Cory for his wealth, education, and his appearance. These people want to be like Cory because he is "everything" and they work harder in hopes to one day have a life like his. This is a man who came from a privileged background that set him up for achievement. The last two lines come as a shock because it reveals that Cory shoots himself in the head. This is weird to us because up until this point the poem had talked about how glorified his life was. The reader was led to believe Cory had this great life so it's ironic that he would kill himself. In the second poem, Bond introduces us to The Bishop. This is also a person who people admire. The Bishop is different than Cory because the poem mentions how this man has had a troubled past. Bond tells us how The Bishop is blind and has experienced racism throughout his life. This makes the themes of the two poems very different and practically opposite. In Robinson's poem we see a man who is set up to be a success but turn out to be a failure and in Bond's poem we see a man who was set up for failure but becomes a success.
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Through the imagery we see a man who is "clean" and "admirably schooled". We see him calmly walk about the streets of "down town" and the common people watch in admiration. In Bond's poem we see a striking difference through the imagery. We see The Bishop with swear pouring down his face during a performance. We hear his "cries and wails" as he expresses his emotions. We see him "Screaming.../... from the