Hidden Despair in Wealth: Decoding Richard Cory's Tragedy

The poem "Richard Cory" portrays how somebody who seems to have everything will still be dissatisfied. All the poor townspeople regarded Richard Cory as a near-best gentleman. He was an extremely rich guy, and the townspeople believed he should have been extremely delighted with his life. No one understood that this man was really suffering inside. The poem leaves it up to the reader to decide what Richard Cory was suffering from, and what led up to his supreme grief. Robinson never ever speaks about any relationships Richard Cory has had.

This hints that there were no strong relationships in his life and that he needed a companion. At the end of the poem, Richard Cory unexpectedly shot himself. This makes the reader think of what real happiness is and what it needs. A guy like Richard Cory may appear to have whatever, but joy does not come from wealth. The townspeople never recognized that you don't need wealth in order to enjoy their lives.

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The poem captures Richard Cory's personality from the poor townspeople's point of view. Robinson includes tactile imagery when there are "fluttered pulses," which shows how superiorly Richard Cory is viewed. The poem has a basic "abab cdcd…" rhyme scheme and is written in iambic pentameter throughout the whole poem.

Robinson also metaphorically states "Clean favored and imperially slim," which shows how Richard Cory is compared to something imperial like an emperor. The last stanza is the darkest of them all. It shows how poor the townspeople really were when they "went without the meat and cursed the bread.

" The whole poem shows how the townspeople misjudged Richard Cory's feelings.