Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson: Money Doesn't Buy Happiness

The poem “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson is made up of four-line stanzas, and each of those stanzas has an ABAB rhyme scheme. That means that the first and third lines of each stanza rhyme, as do the second and fourth lines. This poem tells the readers about the gap in social class between people and that outward appearances are not always what they seem to be—in other words, you can seem like the most perfect person in the world but on the inside you are falling apart. The story itself is about a well off man who ends it all, and is being told from a third individual's perspective as a resident in the town who watches his regular day to day existence. The central matters in this poem are the speaker's conditions, the language he utilizes, Richard Cory's condition and the irony of the poem.

The speaker of this poem is by all accounts somebody from a low level class, as 'We people on the pavement looked at him' (Line # 2) states, and the speaker additionally obviously has an occupation that requests them to be messy in appearance, as the fourth line 'Clean favored' suggests, in such a case that the speaker themselves is somebody who doesn't get their hands or clothes dirty, meaning they are too good for that. 'So on we worked, and waited for the light', 'And went without meat, and cursed the bread' (13 and 14), uncover that the speaker additionally was a hard working employee and has an extremely thorough activity, yet even with that, despite everything they can't afford to purchase meat and not too bad bread for their meals. Also, in light of the fact that the speaker is utilizing a third persons perspective, that implies a great many people are agreeing with his assessment.

In this poem, the speaker is utilizing regular language that is straightforward, in spite of the fact that there are a few words that are somewhat uncommon. Like 'admirably schooled' (10). In any case, the word “admirably” suggests that the speaker wasn't an informed individual. The people looked up to him. He was everything to them.

The first, second and third stanza enlighten the readers regarding Cory, or if nothing else a Richard Cory from an outsider's perspective. Those lines have plainly express that Richard Cory is an exceptionally rich man, and the speaker even goes similarly as contrast him with a king in line 9. He is additionally an amiable man that never treats other individuals wrong in spite of the economic wellbeing, as line 6 suggests. Cory is additionally somebody who dresses well, and can put himself in public and never show his riches off. Robinson never talked about who Cory really is. He only described outside appearances. From what the speaker says about him, individuals appear to respect him and they're even very desirous of him and wish to be in his place (12). In any case, regardless of all that, Cory takes his life by committing suicide (16).

The irony in that is, Cory has everything a man could ever request or want, however it puts him out of place with the people in the town. Individuals appear to truly appreciate him to a point where they admire him so much that they think they are not worthy to even talk to him. In line 8 “ and he glittered when he walked', makes me think that they think he is almost too perfect, even when he walks. You can seem like you are totally fine on the outside but you truly are not. You can keep that front but eventually you explode and show what you really felt.

In this poem, Robinson is attempting to state that occasionally something isn't as it seems to be. The poem makes it seem like the people think he has everything so he is happy. Yet, at the end he gets to that point where he takes his own life. I feel like whatever he was going through was hard because he chose death as a way out. This poem teaches you that money, popularity, and riches can not bring you happiness. This short poem has such great meaning and I truly enjoyed reading it.