The Poem Richard Cory By Edwin Robinson

Richard Cory” Analysis

The poem “Richard Cory” is a poem by Edwin Robinson telling of the third person view of the life of a man who seems to have it all. Everyone living in the town alongside Richard holds him up on a pedestal. They look up to and admire him because he is of a higher socioeconomic class and appears to be extremely happy. In the end, however, the people of the town learn a valuable lesson when Richard Cory commits suicide. In the following paragraphs, I will describe the ways in which the speaker’s style of writing contributes to the overall meaning of the poem and then describe a few of the themes being carried across to the audience.

First off, connotation is used by the speaker mostly for the purpose of separating two classes of people: the lower class, which the townspeople belong to, and the upper class, which Richard Cory belongs to, this is evident when the speaker writes:

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.

This indirectly suggests that the townspeople are of lower socioeconomic class if “down town” is referring to the inner city. Richard Cory lowers himself “down” to the townspeople’s level when he goes into town. The speaker also tells how the townspeople walk on the “pavement”(2), which could mean that the townspeople belong to a lower social class than Richard Cory, who most likely walks on a sidewalk. Connotation is also used in making Richard Cory seem like royalty. Phrases like “gentleman sole to crown”(3) and “schooled in every grace”(10) are placed in the poem to do this, and the phrases also accomplish the speaker 's goal of making him seem wealthy. On another note, Richard’s name is a name shared by many kings. Additionally, his name contains the word “rich” which could be another reference to his