Explication on the Poem "Richard Cory" by 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.


Paraphrase:
1. Every time Richard Cory went to town, People always looked at him because he was a rich man and always looked clean and slender, different from other people in town.
2. He was never show himself off and he also always polite when he talked. But he still made our heart jump every time he greeted us and he looked attractive when he walked.
3. He was a rich and an educated person, and we always wish to be him.
4. We worked, but it was never enough to buy meat and the bread that we could afford wasn’t that great either. On the other hand, Richard Cory, who had everything, just went off and killed himself.




Explication:
The poem ‘Richard Cory’ by Edwin Arlington Robinson 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 word, what you see on the outside might just different from what you’ll see in the inside, or to put it mildly, don’t judge a book by its cover. The story itself is about a wealthy man who commits suicide, and is being told from a third person’s point of view as a citizen in the town who watches his everyday life. The main points in this poem are the speaker’s circumstances, the language he uses, Richard Cory’s condition and the irony of the story.

The speaker of this poem seems to be someone from a low level class, as “We people on the pavement looked at him” states, and the speaker also apparently has a job that demands them to be dirty in appearance, as the fourth line “Clean favored” implies, because if the speaker themselves is someone who doesn’t dirtied their hands or clothes on their work, they wouldn’t use that particular phrase. And “So on we worked, and waited for the light”, “And went without the meat, and cursed the bread” (line 17 and 18), reveal that the speaker also a hard worker and has a very exhaustive job, but even with that, they still can’t afford to buy meat and decent bread for their meal. And because the speaker is using a third person’s point of view (we), that means most people are agree with his opinion and it isn’t his only thoughts.

In this poem, the speaker is using everyday language that is easy to understand, although there are some words that are rather unusual. Like “admirably schooled” (line 10). When someone is very rich, it’s just usual for them and rather expected of them to go to school or get every some kind of education. However, the word ‘admirably’ implies that the speaker wasn’t an educated person, and thus it was rather admirable for them that someone is able to go to school. And the phrase “waited for the light” (line 13). Rather than just light that would mean time to work, apparently the light in this phrase is used to indicates hope.

The first, second and third stanza tell the readers about Richard Cory, or at least a Richard Cory from an outsider’s point of view. Those lines have clearly state that Richard Cory is a very wealthy man, and the speaker even goes as far as compare him to the king (line 9). He is also a polite man that never treats other people differently despite the social status, as line 6 implies. And if line 5—“and he was always quietly arrayed”—is anything to go by, Cory is also someone who dresses well, or is able to place himself in public and never show his wealthy off. But other than outward appearances, Robinson never gave a clue about Cory’s personalities, and he also never gave the readers a glimpse about Cory’s personal life, like his relationship with his family or even his lovers. But from what the speaker says about him, people seem to be admiring him deeply and they’re even actually rather envious of him and wish to be in his place (line 12). But despite all that, Cory ends his life by committing a suicide (line 16).

The irony in that is, Cory does have everything a man could ask for, but apparently all that makes him an outcast to the people in town. People seem to really admire him to a level where they think of him as someone who is untouchable and far above them, and they think about themselves as someone who is unworthy of his attention. “But still he fluttered pulses when he said, “Good-morning,”” (line 7 and 8) clearly state that people feel really privileged when he just simply greets them on the street, even the sight of him walking is special for them “and he glittered when he walked” (line 8). Line 6—and he was always human when he talked—also indicates that it is almost as if the people in the town do not think about him as a human most of the time because he is too perfect to be one and only then remember that he is a human just like the rest of them when he talked. Maybe they don’t intend to do that, but their self-conscious attitudes toward him unconsciously cast him from the rest of them, and thus make him an outcast. He might be not an outcast because he is the lowest of the low in the social status, because he is far from it, but an outcast is still an outcast, be it because of people’s disgusts or even their too high regards, and whether they are conscious of it or no.

In this poem, Robinson is trying to say that sometimes something is not as it appears to be. People in the town as the speaker has said clearly assume that because Cory has everything, that means he’s happy. But then he ends his own life, which means whatever it was that he had been through must be really hard for him to not wanting it last any longer and choosing death as a way out. This is also means that money can’t bring you happiness, if what happened to Cory is anything to go by. There are so many meanings that Robinson included in such a short poem, and his using of everyday language was somehow amplified the meaning of the ending of the poem. This poem is truly a brilliant piece of artwork.