Blog # 15

Richard Cory is a poem about a man who seems like he has it all, but it turns out that he was not as perfect as everyone thought he was. For example, in this poem he is described as being "...He was rich-- yes, richer than a king, and admirably schooled in every grace:" (Robinson). As the poem progresses, we learn that Richard Cory was not as perfect as he seemed to be. At the very end of this poem, the line reads "And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, went home and put a bullet through his head" (Robinson). I think this poem is really creepy because it talks throughout the entire thing about how this guy has it all and he is just too awesome but then at the end it says that he shot himself so its kind of weird how the whole thing played out. This poem can be related to Henry David Thoreau's philosophies about material items because in this poem it mentions how Richard Cory should be happy because he is rich. Henry David Thoreau accuses people of being obsessed with acquiring material goods (Grant). Thoreau says that people should live a more self-sufficient life style and should move away from the unnecessary material items and have a closer relationship with nature (Grant). I think that Thoreau is right about how just because people have material items or money it does not mean that they automatically have a perfect life. Overall I think this poem shows a lot about how society thinks and also a lot of the things that people value. Many people often assume that if you have money you are happy, but as shown in this poem that is not always the case. Also, this poem shows some of the things people value, which includes money and material items. I do not really think this poem relates to Emerson very much other than he focuses more on nature rather than material items and that is similar to Thoreau and is a complete opposite to this poem.

Grant, P. B. "Individual and Society in Walden." McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed. Encyclopedia of

Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. "45. Richard Corey. Edwin Arlington Robinson. Modern American Poetry." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Web. 06 Mar. 2012.