Richard Cory Poem Analysis

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Most ballads share many aspects in common. In the ballad “Warren Pryor” by Alden Nowlan, the author pertains a fairly common structure in which quatrains and refrains are used. Similarly, the ballad “Richard Cory” uses the exact same structure while both ballads use a monologue format for speech. Most often, a ballad is a story that is told in a song and passed down from generation to generation. With this in mind, the authors of “Warren Pryor” and “Richard Cory” are trying to express a story that is important enough to extend across generations. In addition, the authors use various poetic devices throughout their ballads to add more emphasis in regards to the messages that are being conveyed. Briefly, “Warren Pryor” and “Richard Cory” both share a comparable structure whilst conveying two different messages through the use of poetic devices and varied plot elements. First off, it is known that both authors decided to stick with the traditional structure of a ballad. This includes the use of quatrains, refrains, simple language, and a monologue form of speaking. Writers usually repeat sentence starters in order to use a refrain. For instance, in “Warren Pryor”, the first and the third stanzas start off with the word “When”. Correspondingly, the ballad “Richard Cory” indicates that a refrain has been used when stanza two and three start off with the word “And”. Another aspect between these ballads are the poetic …show more content…

To conclude, these ballads combined the use of quatrains, refrains, and monologue while including a multitude of poetic devices and plot elements. Sadly, both characters in these ballads dealt with their dilemma 's in a bad way and nothing is known about the aftermath of each story. One may ask what the message behind these ballads are, and one could say that people should learn how to deal with their