Richard Cory Poem Explication Literature & Language Essay (Essay Sample)

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Richard Cory Poem Explication
Richard Cory is a narrative poem written by Edwin Robinson and tells a story of an eponymous man who seems to have all the things he wanted in the eyes of other people. The other people in the town belong to a low financial class. The story is set on the downtown area where the townspeople admire the respected Richard Cory. Richard Cory is a very rich man and the people in the town place him on a pedestal. Moreover, they admire him and want to have all the things he has. For instance, the people on the pavement want to have fame and riches. In the end, the townspeople learn very valuable lessons when Richard commits suicide by shooting himself in the head. The people in the town are reminded that outward appearances can be deceiving. The story explores the differences in social classes in the town. The central idea of the Richard Cory poem is that status and wealth do not guarantee happiness. The author uses several literary devices such as metaphor and irony, to show how appearances can be deceiving.
The first stanza introduces the eponymous Richard Cory character. The people respect Richard Cory in the downtown area. He attracts the townspeople’s attention since the author says, “a gentleman from sole to crown” (3). Richard Cory does not live in the downtown area, but he is a visitor on some occasions. The final stanza line indicates that Richard Cory was morally upright and carried a great sense of regality and grace. In the poem, the narrator is a voice representing the people on downtown’s pavement. Robinson has employed extensive use of connotations in the first stanza to portray Richard Cory as a high-class individual. Richard Cory is placed in another place other than the downtown. Robinson places the townspeople in the downtown area to lower their class. Therefore, Richard Cory's coming to the downtown area indicates that Cory has lowered himself to the townspeople level. Additionally, Robinson places the townspeople on the pavement, which is not as good as the sidewalk that Richard Cory probably walks. Robinson position the townspeople and Richard Cory to show their differences in financial status. Moreover, Robinson indicates that the townspeople seem to define class and wealth. Robinson has used alliteration in the first stanza by repeating the ‘w’ sound in the first line of stanza 1(1). Line 2 shows a repeated ‘p’ sound, which is an example of alliteration (2).