critique essay about richard cory

• Ask LitCharts AI
• Discussion Question Generator
• Essay Prompt Generator
• Quiz Question Generator

• Literature Guides
• Poetry Guides
• Shakespeare Translations
• Literary Terms

Richard Cory Summary & Analysis by Edwin Arlington Robinson

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

"Richard Cory" first appeared in the American poet Edwin Arlington Robinson's 1897 collection, The Children of the Night . In four brisk stanzas, "Richard Cory" tells the story of a wealthy man who often strolls the streets of a poverty-stricken town whose residents all envy his seeming glory. Yet the poem's final line reveals that, despite seeming to have everything he could want, Cory kills himself. The poem's thematic interests in wealth, poverty, and the elusive nature of happiness are deeply tied to its historical context: a series of economic depressions that struck the U. S. in the 1890s.

• Read the full text of “Richard Cory”

The Full Text of “Richard Cory”

1 Whenever Richard Cory went down town,

2 We people on the pavement looked at him:

3 He was a gentleman from sole to crown,

4 Clean favored, and imperially slim.

5 And he was always quietly arrayed,

6 And he was always human when he talked;

7 But still he fluttered pulses when he said,

8 "Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

9 And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—

10 And admirably schooled in every grace:

11 In fine, we thought that he was everything

12 To make us wish that we were in his place.

13 So on we worked, and waited for the light,

14 And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;

15 And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,

16 Went home and put a bullet through his head.

“Richard Cory” Summary

“richard cory” themes.

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

• See where this theme is active in the poem.

Wealth and Happiness

Envy vs. Admiration

Line-by-line explanation & analysis of “richard cory”.

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:

Lines 11-12

In fine, we thought that he was everything To make us wish that we were in his place.

Lines 13-14

So on we worked, and waited for the light, And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;

Lines 15-16

And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, Went home and put a bullet through his head.

“Richard Cory” Symbols

Meat and Bread

• See where this symbol appears in the poem.

“Richard Cory” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

Alliteration.

• See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

End-Stopped Line

Polysyndeton, “richard cory” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Clean favored
• Imperially slim
• See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Richard Cory”

Rhyme scheme, “richard cory” speaker, “richard cory” setting, literary and historical context of “richard cory”, more “richard cory” resources, external resources.

"Richard Cory" by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel — Watch a video of Simon and Garfunkel performing their 1966 song based on the poem. While the song closely follows the structure of the poem, including the last line, the lyrics also imagine more information about Cory's wealth (the son of a banker, Cory "owns one half of this town") and a backstory for the narrator (a worker in Cory's factory). Following Cory's suicide, the narrating worker, despondent in his own way, still expresses a desire to be like Richard Cory.

The Children of the Night — Check out The Children of the Night, Edwin Arlington Robinson's 1897 book of poetry in which "Richard Cory" first appeared.

Edwin Arlington Robinson's Life Story — Learn more about the life of the poet Edwin Arlington Robinson from the Poetry Foundation.

"Richard Cory," a Song by the 3D's — Check out folk group The Three D's 1964 setting of the poem. Unlike Simon and Garfunkel, this treatment of the song simply sets the complete text of the poem to music (although there is a creative interjection in the middle of the final line).

Dramatic Reading of "Richard Cory" — Watch this dramatic reading of "Richard Cory," presented by student Michelle Cheng.

LitCharts on Other Poems by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Miniver Cheevy

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

• Quizzes, saving guides, requests, plus so much more.

• _G.C.E.(A/L) Past Papers
• _G.C.E. (O/L) Past Papers
• _Presentations
• _Worksheets
• E-book Store
• _Litspring Community

Analysis of Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Edwin Arlington Robinson, (1869-1935) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who was also nominated for the Nobel prize for literature. He was born in Maine but had an unhappy childhood since his parents seemed largely indifferent to him. His poetry often dwelt on bleak themes, perhaps based on these first-hand experiences. Richard Cory is a short dramatic poem about a man whose outward appearance veils his inner turmoil. The setting may be Tilbury Town in Maine which was the setting of many of his poems. However, many think that the poem ‘Richard Cory’ could have been based upon his brother who came to an inauspicious end when his business collapsed.

Title: The name Richard Cory appears to allude to England’s King Richard I, who earned the name Richard Coeur de Lion (Richard the Lion-Hearted) for his valiant fighting in the Crusades. The name is attributed to the person in the poem to attribute him kingly characteristics.

Theme: Appearances is deceiving/ Money can’t buy happiness.

Tone: Conversational (frequent use of and)

Narration: 1 st person narration. (we - the people of the town are the poem's speakers, working-class citizens who has little materialistic pleasures.)

Structure: written in four quatrains and iambic pentameter with a simple ABAB rhyme scheme.

Main literary technique: irony

Reading between lines.

Whenever Richard Cory went downtown, We people on the pavement looked at him; He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored, and imperially slim.

Symbol: crown (king) attributed Richard Cory kingly characteristics.

English term: Pavement (pavement is the British Term for sidewalk)

Alliteration: Whenever, went/ people on the pavement

Visual imagery: clean favored and imperially slim

Use of Past Tense: suggests that this is a past story and Richard Cory no longer exists.

Conversational language: we people

Richard Cory is introduced by the people on the pavement. People in the pavement suggests the poor life condition of the speakers. Comparing to them, they see Richard Cory as a royal figure. He seems to be like an idol or a celebrity to them. The royal or kingly words used to describe him like: c rown, imperially reveals the attitude of the onlookers about Richard Cory. The final two lines of this stanza suggests that he was a morally upright fellow who carries such a royal grace in his appearance.

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.

Anaphora: and he was always (shows his consistency of his good qualities)

Assonance: fluttered pulses

Visual imagery: glittered (it may be his golden watches and necklaces that glitter)

Metaphor: he was always human (to attribute of good qualities that a good human possesses)

People on the pavement regularly waits to see his gentle acquaintance which he produces consistently. They feel a triumphant-shiver when Richard Cory addresses them which is like a celebrity or somebody royal comes to them and speaks with them. People may be attributing divinity to him by the words ‘he glittered’  

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.

Anaphora: and (conversational; shows their excitement when describing him)

Contrast: richer than a king (exaggerating his wealth)

Alliteration: wish, we were (create a sound effect like sighing)

Richard Cory was the role model of the people on the pavement. For them he was the ultimate goal to reach – both richness and virtue. However, the final two lines creates doubts in the reader; by the phrase: ‘ we thought he was everything’ It is hinted that what they thought was not the truth, that he was not the perfect one.

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.

Metaphor: light (hope for a better life)

Alliteration: went without (sighing sound)

Euphemism: put a bullet through his head (suicided)

Anaphora: and (shows hesitation)

Symbol: meat and bread (meat for richness or royalty and bread for poverty or poor life condition)

A common reality is brought through the struggle of the poor to lead a better life. They follow a role model and try to strive to be somebody like him, and during the course they do not value what they actually have - as they always compare things with what they dream to consume. To everyone’s surprise, the perfect idol of everyone suicides himself for an unknown reason. Everyone is left wondering what on earth could have preempted the suicide from a man who appeared to have everything, including the respect of the townspeople.

This reveals another reality of life: that we cannot judge a book by its cover. In a world of uncertainty, nothing is perfect. Nobody can be judgmental about others. A person’s life is like an ice burg, one can see only the tip of it. Similarly, Richard Cory might have been leading a miserable life which he could not openly show. His struggle to manage his life of duality might have suffocated him to take such a decision.

You may also like to read about another perspective of the poem: Richard Cory, Expectations vs Reality here.

What is your idea of the poem? Let’s share them in the comment section. Share the post if you find this useful to others.

You may like these posts

Post a comment, 12 comments.

Everything is explained very clearly & nicely.! Actually, Litspring.com is a great help for me in doing O/L literature and the model papers & other educational materials in this website are really helpful in understanding the lessons and to write better in Literature exams. I invited all of my colleagues to use Litspring.com to broaden their knowledge and I would like to offer my deepest gratitude for maintaining this valuable website as a free service. Thank You so much sir....! This is so helpful..

First, let me thank you for spending your valuable time to appreciate the work done by us. Our greatest satisfaction is to see you benefit from the blog.

Great one 💯

thank u so much sir.. This is the best blog

happy to hear that, thanks.

Thank You for the analysis and the details.

Thanks, happy you find it useful.

the term 'suicided' is wrong, committed suicide is the correct term.

Thanks. Sometimes it is used as suicided too.

Great work! This helps a lot to understand the meaning of the poem and its literary techniques very clearly. Thank you very much.

Thanks a lot

This is useful.it benefited me a lott

Get new posts by email:

• B.A. Ja'pura 10
• Drama Scripts 4
• G.C.E (A/L) Literature 57
• G.C.E (O/L) Literature 77
• Students' Corner 7

Visit Us on Social Media

Featured post.

Analysis of the Poem Roots by Jean Arasanayagam

A poetry and fiction writer, Arasanayagam was born Jean Solomons, in Kandy, on Decem…

Total Pageviews

• Watch us on YouTube

Weekly Popular

Analysis of The Bear by Anton Chekhov

Analysis of Breakfast by Jacques Prevert

Analysis of Don’t Talk to me about Matisse by Lakdasa Wickkramasinha

Line by Line Analysis of To the Nile by John Keats

Menu footer widget.

• Privacy Policy

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.

Summary of Richard Cory

• Popularity of “Richard Cory”: This poem was written by Edwin Arlington Robinson, a prolific American poet in 1869. Richard Cory is a superb literary piece about the life and death of a person who appears happy. This ironic piece narrates the satisfied life of Richard Cory and his suspicious death. It also illustrates that even seemingly calm people may harbor storms inside them. The poem reveals how people hide their feelings and walk around the world in peace and hide their pain.
• “Richard Cory” As a Representative of Wonder: The poem is about a wealthy man who often walks through the poverty -stricken streets, showing an upright position. His apparent satisfied look makes the lowly people envy him. He appears as a person from the upper-class, who always walks around with gentle behavior. Even his simple morning greetings win him admiration from the townspeople. To them, he seems to be a role model, having all the amenities of life at his beck and call . They have been waiting for the good days for ages, while he walks around, having all the blessings. However, the poem takes a tragic turn when one calm summer day he commits suicide. In the midst of this commotion, what stays in the minds of the readers is that having the greatest financial status does not mean that the person is leading a satisfying life. The poem is also an encouragement to have closer look at a family member or friends who are hiding any mental health issues.
• Major Themes in “Richard Cory”: Wealth, appearance versus reality and real happiness are significant themes of the poem. Throughout the poem, Richard Cory’s contended looks, gentle behavior, and wealth make people believe that he is happier than them. People’s perceptions of Richard Cory are only based on external factors; they lack the necessities; therefore, his luxurious lifestyle attracts them. Unfortunately, they lack the insight to peep into his struggle and mental loneliness that lead him to commit suicide. Thus, the poem suggests that wealth and status do not ensure happiness.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in “Richard Cory”

literary devices are tools that give deeper meanings to the text. The analysis of literary devices used in this poem has been given below.

• Anaphora : It refers to the repetition of a word or expression in the first part of some verses. For example, “And he was” in the first stanza of the poem is repeated to emphasize the point such as; “And he was always quietly arrayed, And he was always human when he talked”.
• Assonance : Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /ow/ in “Whenever Richard Cory went down town” and the sound of /i/ in “To make us wish that we were in his place”.
• Alliteration : Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession. For example, the sound of /w/ in “To make us wish that we were in his place.”
• Allusion : Allusion is an indirect reference to a person, place, thing, or idea of historical, cultural, political, or literary significance. For example, in the last stanza it shows the poverty of the people, “And went without the meat, and cursed the bread.”
• Enjambment : It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break ; instead, it rolls over to the next line. For example, “In fine, we thought that he was everything; To make us wish that we were in his place”.
• Imagery : Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “We people on the pavement looked at him”, “Went home and put a bullet through his head” and “And went without the meat, and cursed the bread.”
• Irony : Irony means to use words in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words. The subject of the poem is ironic as the person seems a happy man having all the pleasures of life, yet he commits suicide at the end.
• Metonymy : It is a type of figurative language in which an object or concept is referred to not by its name, but instead by the name of something closely associated with it. For example, in the second line of the poem, the word “people” may suggest the narrator or general public, “We people on the pavement looked at him.” The second example is in the thirteenth line, where “light” stands for the morning.
• Synecdoche : It is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is used for the whole. For example, in the last stanza, “bread” and “meat” represent the entire meal such as; “And went without the meat, and cursed the bread.”

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “Richard Cory”

Poetic devices are part of literary devices, some of them differ in nature. With the help of poetic devices, the poet sets the mood of the poem and gives his text an indirect meaning. The analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem is given below.

• End Rhyme : End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Edwin Arlington Robinson has used end rhyme in this poem such as; “town/crown”, “him/slim” and “talked/walked.”
• Quatrain : A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here each stanza is quatrain.
• Rhyme Scheme : The poem follows ABAB rhyme Scheme and this pattern continues till the end.
• Stanza : A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are four stanzas in this poem with each comprised of four lines.

Quotes to be Used

The lines stated below can be used in lectures to discuss the qualities of a righteous man.

“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.”

Related posts:

• Richard Adams
• Miniver Cheevy

Post navigation

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Irony — Theme Of Irony In Richard Cory

Theme of Irony in Richard Cory

• Categories: Irony

About this sample

Words: 719 |

Published: Mar 14, 2024

Words: 719 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Cite this Essay

To export a reference to this article please select a referencing style below:

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Dr Jacklynne

Verified writer

• Expert in: Literature

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

1 pages / 589 words

1 pages / 666 words

2.5 pages / 1205 words

6.5 pages / 2859 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Irony

Dramatic irony is a literary technique that has been used for centuries to engage readers and create suspense in storytelling. In Edgar Allen Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," the use of dramatic irony is particularly notable, as [...]

Animal Farm, written by George Orwell, is a story that talks about the dangers of having too much power and how it can lead to corruption. The animals in the story rebel against the humans, but end up becoming just as bad when [...]

In Tobias Wolff's "Bullet In The Brain," the reader is taken on a poignant journey through the mind of a jaded book critic named Anders. Through a series of flashbacks, we witness the defining moments of Anders' life that have [...]

Irony is a literary device that is often used to add depth and complexity to a story. In Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible," irony plays a significant role in highlighting the absurdity and hypocrisy of the Salem witch trials. [...]

For centuries, cultures around the world have used fables not only for entertainment but as a method to teach significant moral lessons. Fables have given cultures an opportunity to highlight their moral values and provide [...]

Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People” exemplifies characters’ defects ironic to the title. Rather than highlighting goodness, O’Connor focuses on the bad traits the characters carry. An ideology of Christianity is that one [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free