Richard Cory

Richard Cory

Poems are probably the best thing around the world there are so many poems that either explain a sense of feeling, anger, disappointment, illusion or also signify a way of showing love. Some of the things that go around the world are probably express in poems, letters and songs, which in later times this expression come to each individual and express the significance of the meaning of each poem or song to tell the individual what is happening around the world. The poem “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson has something in meaning either about people who are rich but also those that work off each time to get the food on their table every day. The poem and the song have their difference and similarities, but in particular who is Richard Cory, politics, and social influences.

At the beginning of the poem we come to understand that it is talking about a man named Richard Cory, a man that is wealthy and well known to the town he lives in. The author introduces the reader with a sentence that says “We people on the pavement looked at him” coming to question the significance of “we” it is not clear to the reader how “we” comes is interpret in the poem. Is it the people on the town or the people that surround Richard Cory? According to a quote in Oppapers .com it specifies that “Richard Cory” is known as a “symbolic of upper society, and the towns’ people are symbolic of the middle class.” Richard Cory does not want any other human being to be just like him; this is probably why he is known as a powerful individual. A part of the poem mention how “he was a gentleman from sole to crown” taking place that the words in particular mean something to the poem itself. Sole and crown come to mean that one of a kind human being having a dominion of a sovereign (monarchy), making people feel he is as dominant as a king. He acts as a well educated and outstanding person that all the people around him admire the vivid image they saw in him as a God.

Having a little understanding of who really is Richard Cory, we have knowledge to determine that people wish they could be at the same level as him, “richer than a king” understanding this is obviously unpredictable because according to the website Cummings guide it says “suggest Richard Cory is the name of a British king of, Richard I, who reigned from 1189 to 1199.” Richard Cory is a well know king of England, which was a king that fought against his own family, and well known to the public for his bloody fights he had encounter with other countries. The song “Richard Cory” by Simon and Garfunkel contradicts itself with two different views, one part is the fact that “he was born to society, a banker’s only child” with “power, grace and style” every man wishes they had. Some parts of the song contradicts the poem because it does not mention in the poem that Richard Cory has a factory and that people work for him, but in the song it clearly mentions that he has a factory, making people who work for him curse the life they have. Seen the good quality of life that Richard Cory lived in made them wish that they could be him instead of “waiting for the light” (Cummings). Simon and Garfunkel quoted in their song “The papers print his picture almost everywhere he goes Richard Cory at the opera, Richard Cory at a show”. The song makes Richard Cory be as a celebrity, a person well known to society but also a person with class and a passion of been in social events rather than being a lonely person like it is mention in the poem. Other parts of the song that contradicted the poem, quotes “He freely gave to charity, he had the common touch, and they were grateful for his patronage and thanked him very much” (Simon and Garfunkel). People see a different Richard Cory, a guy that tries to help people and offers charity for people who are poor; they thanked him for all his contributions. In the poem he is known as a stock up and arrayed individual, who demanded the people around him.

Some of the things we can easily see in the poem and in the song are politics. First the author Edwin Robinson talks in the poem about how he was “richer than a king” and “admirably schooled in every grace.” Richard Cory is seen as a king probably the king of England, who reins a country and wanted control over all the nations around him. Some of the problems was that they saw Richard Cory having maximum power, this made people be fearful at what he can do by harming its’ own people. His followers wish they had the same power as he did, disturbing the minds of those people made him belief that he had all the power and that they need to be just like him to gain the things he had, at least the selfishness he had just because he had maintain a well style of life with food and luxury.

In the other side the song has different view of the Richard Cory he makes “political connections to spread his wealth around.” The song writer Simon and Garfunkel want the writer to see Richard Cory not as a king but rather as a guy with political influences that can control the way he can spend his wealth and capacity of controlling the things he has and gaining trust in the workers. When it says “wealth around” it a significance that Richard Cory according to the song wants to expand the use of his wealth and duplicated the things he has or it could also be that he wants to share the wealth to those people that envy him and want to be just like him, making them feel for a moment be just like him. Other issues that concern some will be the power that Richard Cory already has may cause him to want more power and be as powerful as a king, which in this will see the man with a monarchy, governing all the men and unsatisfying the people’s needs causing the mistrust in all the people and even himself. Some of the specifics that are encounter in the poem and song are that

The influences of society over Richard Cory clearly, is obvious when the author Edwin Robinson makes Richard Cory as a handsome and wealthy person, making people want to be in his position because of the happy life he has. What society did not see was that inside that smile there was a man that did not have a perfect life, like everyone thought he had. The issues that Richard Cory had were hidden because he did not want society to know his lonely life; probably not having a family or love to share with. People could have provoked Richard Cory to kill himself because they talk too much about him, leaving him with almost no choice but to kill himself. Because he probably wanted to show the town that although he had money he was not happy with his life. Richard Cory was seen as a gentleman, and well schooled, he got tired of people only caring about what he had rather than the feeling that he wanted to give to people. This proves the quotes “money cannot buy you happiness it only buys isolation,” also, The poem “Richard Cory” wants humanity to realize that there are problems on thinking that been rich is everything in the world and reaching this is the fulfillment of happiness but like in the poem been wealthy may cause many people to kill themselves because they are not satisfy. He had everything he needed, everything he wanted but he did not have the valuable thing that a human being needs, happiness Yes, he helped the poor and also gave jobs to the needy but by doing that he was trying to buy peoples affections, so he would have friends. It is peoples natural instincts that if they cannot treat each other as humans with respect and love, then they will separated from the others in order to satisfy their own needs

Overall, the poem and the songs had a meaning to each reader taking it from the egoism or the unhappiness that Richard Cory had, that ended up on killing himself with a pistol that went through his head. Of course, in reality there could be things that happen to people who are miserable because they do not have anyone to share their wealth. Like the things that were brought to the poem about who was really Richard Cory, the politics it brought as people so him as a king and probably the influences that people had over Richard Cory that ended up his life and brought knowledge to those people that thought that money has the happiness for all.

Works Cited

Robinson Edwin “Richard Cory” Rpt. In. Reading Literature and Writing Argument. 3th Ed.

Missy James and Allan P. Merickel. Upper Saddle, River New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008.192

http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Richard-Cory-Analysis/30896

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/simon+and+garfunkel/richard+cory_20124655.html

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides3/RichardCory.html

http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon27.html

http://www.faqs.org/lyrics/Simon-Garfunkel-Richard-Cory.html

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/simon+and+garfunkel/richard+cory_20124655.html

http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Richard-Cory-Analysis/30896