The Rich Man

The Rich Man Franklin P. Adams is one of the less known American modern poets. His poems, like the poems of many other 20th century American poets, comment the society after the industrial revolution. Adams’ poem, The Rich Man, concentrates on the class division between the rich and the poor. Furthermore it satirizes the old view of an impecunious life being the “good” and the virtuous one. The two first stanzas of the poem are …

…possessions, the reader sees him as a very shallow, or even as a very unhappy person. Someone anyone wouldn’t want to be, anyway. This is why the poor man’s answer to the question is so surprising. The answer rips the reader back down from the clouds of virtuous choices. It is a slap on Bartlett’s cheek. To me, this poem offered a much more realistic view of life than any romantic poem.