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Lorichard Cory Essay

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In Edwin Arlington Robinson's poem ¨Richard Cory¨, the character Richard Cory shows the reader that suicide is an escape from a terrible life. This poem contains a lot of surprises and even somewhat confusing parts. The reader is left asking themselves why the character in this poems, writing had to end it all. Was it really all that bad to where they just ended everything? Personification is shown when the river has a ¨face¨ and ¨asked¨ for a kiss, as well in the whole piece when the act of suicide writes a note. In the poem, a shift happens and it directs the readers into a different direction. The main shift occurs between the title and the body. The title is straightforward, except for the personification of suicide. It is serious and sad. …show more content…

For one, he selected the name ¨Richard Cory¨ according to the royal meaning behind the name. When the poem reads, “he was always human when he talked,” I did not quite understand. Soon afterward, I realized the author meant Richard Cory was not a conceited or arrogant man; he was a friendly man. I could imagine him being the brightest thing on the street when I comprehended “he glittered when he walked.” I realized that Richard Cory was more than just a rich man. Here we have a man's life-story distilled into sixteen lines. A dramatist would have been under the necessity of justifying the suicide by some train of events in which Richard Cory's character would have inevitably betrayed him. A novelist would have dissected the psychological effects of these events upon Richard Cory. The poet, with a more profound grasp of life than either, shows us only what life itself would show us; we know Richard Cory only through the effect of his personality upon those who were familiar with him, and we take both the character and the motive for granted as equally inevitable. Therein lies the ironic touch, which is intensified by the simplicity of the poetic form in which this tragedy is given

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