Richard Cory- Edwin Arlington Robinson

    Richard Cory:

By: Edwin Arlington Robinson

    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.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.



This is a great short poem. The narrator seems to be a middle class working man who works hard everyday to live. He looks at this man who appears to have his life together and is always happy. No matter how hard the people worked they kept on working wishing to be as happy. However the last sentence stops the  poem like a deer in headlights. The poem was all cheery until it said the man went home and killed himself. The effect of the last sentence is huge. Just because the man appeared to be happy in person, did not mean he was happy at home. Also, Richard Cory had money but was not happy. This shows that money can not buy happiness.