By Edwin Arlington Robinson

Friends helped him arrange the private printing of 3 books of his poetry

Became the most successful American poet of the 1920s

Set free from financial worries of his past when he was appointed to a post at the New York Customhouse by Roosevelt

Best poems focus on people’s inner struggles

Paints portraits of desperate characters who view their lives as trivial and meaningless or who long to live their lives in another time or place

(p. 664)

The voice of a poem Although the speaker is often the poet, the speaker may

also be a fictional character or even an inanimate object or another type of non-human entity

Interpreting a poem often depends upon recognizing who the speaker is, whom the speaker is addressing and what the speaker’s tone is

Whenever Richard Cory went to town,We people on the pavement looked at him

Who is the speaker of this poem?

Occurs when rhyming words are repeated at the end of lines

Whenever Richard Cory went to town,We people on the pavement looked at him:He was a gentleman from sole to crown,Clean favored and, and imperially slim

Group of lines in a poem that are considered to be a unitCouplet- a 2-line stanzaTercet- a 3-line stanzaQuatrain- a 4-line stanzaCinquain- a 5-line stanza

Whenever Richard Cory went to town,We people on the pavement looked at him:He was a gentleman from sole to crown,Clean favored and, and imperially slim

How would you classify this poem?

They say that Richard Cory owns one half of this whole town,With political connections to spread his wealth around.Born into society, a banker's only child,He had everything a man could want: power, grace, and style.

But I work in his factoryAnd I curse the life I'm livingAnd I curse my povertyAnd I wish that I could be,Oh, I wish that I could be,Oh, I wish that I could beRichard Cory.

The papers print his picture almost everywhere he goes:Richard Cory at the opera, Richard Cory at a show.And the rumor of his parties and the orgies on his yacht!Oh, he surely must be happy with everything he's got.

But I work in his factoryAnd I curse the life I'm livingAnd I curse my povertyAnd I wish that I could be,Oh, I wish that I could be,Oh, I wish that I could beRichard Cory.

He freely gave to charity, he had the common touch,And they were grateful for his patronage and thanked him very much,So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read:"Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head."

But I work in his factoryAnd I curse the life I'm livingAnd I curse my povertyAnd I wish that I could be,Oh, I wish that I could be,Oh, I wish that I could beRichard Cory

  “Richard Cory” Poem “Richard Cory” Song

Speaker     

  

5 adjectives that describe the type of man people thought Richard Cory to be

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How speaker feels about Richard Cory

    

 

Your perception of Richard Cory as a man

    

 

Purpose  

    

 

Central Message  

    

 

Does the song change your interpretation of the poem? Why or why not?

 

Do you like the song or the poem better? Why?

Rewrite the poem from Richard’s perspective. Follow the format used by Robinson, using 4 quatrains and irony.