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Literary Devices In Richard Cory

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The narrative poem, “Richard Cory”, written in 1893 by the poet Edwin Arlington Robinson, narrates the story of Richard Cory, a fictional character, a man who seems to have it all. The people in the town belong to lower financial class and seem to worship him because of his position, they look up to him and they want to be like him. Richard Cory takes his own life at the end of the poem, which shows, that appearance and money cannot buy happiness or fulfillment. This poem is narrated in the third person plural, where “we” represents the citizens of the small town in which Richard Cory resides and where he is considered part of the royalty for his wealth and well educated self. The title of this poem suggests Richard’s destiny; because according to the meaning the name, Richard derives from German, French and English Ric (ruler, leader, king, powerful) and Hard (strong, brave, hardy) and it therefore means ‘strong in rule’ the perfect name for the perfect guy. Robinson had a rough childhood, since he described his own childhood as “stark and unhappy” which led his poetry to have a huge amount of dark pessimism within each line. Robinson utilizes literary devices in his composition such as, connotations that suggest to the reader that Richard Cord belongs to the royalty. He mentions “sole to crown,”(3) “imperially slim,”(4) and “schooled in every grace,”(10), this connotation emphasizes Richard’s position as local royalty and portrays him as the ideal man. The poem

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