Analysis of Richard Cory

In both Edwin Arlington Robinson and Paul Simon’s versions of the poem “Richard Cory” the author investigates the supposedly anonymous surfaces of life in a peculiar and rather cryptic manner. These men both describe through the use of one man, Richard Cory, and his experiences to view the contrast between those surfaces and the torture and torment that could lie beneath them. There is an equal premise in both poems; a wealthy man who …

…exposed. Neither poet used the usual lyrical, poetic way of self-expression that is used in most poetry. Except at the end, in both poems, the poet selected the most ordinary incidents as the point of focus and plays down all emotion, making the reaction to Richard Cory’s murder even more shocking and unsettling. Both versions, Robinson’s more than Simon’s, have a rich complexity that becomes more and more gratifying with each reading.