The Bishop Of Atlanta Poem Analysis

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The poems “Richard Cory” by Edward Arlington Robinson and “The Bishop of Atlanta” by Sen. Julian Bond are both timeless. When I read these poems, I was immediately transported into the poets’ visions. The “Cory” poem was written in 1897, but still could be used to describe someone we know today. “The Bishop” poem was written about the late, great Ray Charles, a masterful musician. There are some similarities in these poems, but vast differences. A Two The “Cory” poem is very literal. It tells of a high-class, uptown man making his way downtown. The poem was written from a commoner’s perspective. They are standing on the ground watching this celebrity-like figure come downtown. Richard Cory was extremely wealthy. The poem tells of …show more content…

The whole poem consists of one image after another. The poem depicts Ray Charles, the infamous musician, playing at a club on Saturday night. Referred to as The Bishop, Bond illustrates the classic image of Ray. Seeing Ray Charles play, I can relate to the words in this poem. Bond uses imagination to bring you to an Atlanta club early in Ray’s career. This illustration is presented in the poem with Ray working for tips. Even if I have not seen Mr. Charles perform, Bond does an excellent job with the metaphors “Sweat strangles mute eyes” and “Molded on Africa’s anvil, tempered down home”. This easily made me picture an African American man, from the south, without the use of his eyes. Bond used absolute precision in his word choice when he described Ray Charles. Knowing some of the history of Ray Charles, Bond left some room for interpretation. While Ray’s performances gave joy to many people, he struggled with his own demons. Bond opens the metaphorical door for these interpretations in his poem. The two poems have some similarities and major differences. The two poets write about a well-known person of the time. The poem “Cory” is done in four stanzas while the poem “Bishop” is free verse. “Cory” has standard punctuation and Bond’s poem does not. The main characters of the poems come from completely different backgrounds. In Robinson’s poem, Richard Cory is someone that is humble despite coming from a