“richa Cory”
Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poem, Richard Cory, was a window into the life of a lonely man, who had everything ones heart could desire. He was good looking, wealth and well known there out the town. Even though he had all of these things he still “put a bullet through his head”. Sixty nine years later Paul Simon wrote a response to Edwin Arlington Robinson’s poem, also entitle Richard Cory. Paul Simon response came in the form of a song. The speaker in Simon’s poem is a low class working citizen, who wishes he was Richard Cory. Even though both poems are about Richard Cory and have the same title, the two are very different in many ways. They also share some similarities, which is not that many.
The first contrast, I see between the poems is that Richard Cory had everything a man could want. “He had everything a man could want: power, grace, and style”. To the readers and the narrators Richard Cory appears to have everything plus more. They only see his exterior appearance, not the interior. If Richard Cory had everything, why did he take his life? The first similarity I see in the two poems is that everybody wants to be Richard Cory. Even after he committed suicide, the townspeople still wish they could be Richard Cory. Once again the townspeople and the narrator are only looking at the exterior and not the interior of Richard Cory. In Simon’s poem, the narrator repeats it over and over again in through out the poem. The second contrast that I noticed was that everyone saw him a distinguished gentleman. “He was a gentleman from sole to crown.” He was very thoughtful and polite to all that he made contact with. But in Simon’s poem, readers see a different side of Richard Cory. “And the rumors of his parties and the orgies on his yacht.” This line gives readers indication, that Richard Cory is not the “distinguished gentleman” that he portrays in the public eyes. Would the town people still think of him...
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