Two Themes In Richard Cory, By Edwin Arlington Robinson

Edwin Arlington Robinson was born in Head Tide, Maine on December 22nd , 1869. The town was later renamed “Tilbury Town,” which Robinson uses as the setting of many of his poems. Robinson described his childhood as unhappy and stark; when he was six years old, he wrote a letter to Amy Lowell about wondering why he had been born. After graduating high school, Robinson moved on to Harvard University where he spent two years studying and published his first poems in the Harvard Advocate. In 1896, Robinson, at his own expense, privately printed and released The Torrent, his first volume of poetry which was heavily revised and later published as The Children of the Night in 1897. In 1902, Robinson published Captain Craig and Other Poems which caught little attention until it was appraised in a magazine article written by …show more content…
Starting with appearances are deceiving, Richard Cory seems like the perfect man. All of the townspeople see him and desire to be him. He is a good looking man, slim and always well dressed. Along with his appearance, he is a very friendly man, never condescending when he speaks. Richard Cory also is a rich man and is compared to a king when it comes to wealth. But in the end, none of this matters. Regardless of Richard Cory’s outward appearance and friendly demeanor, he is not as happy and content with his life as the the townspeople believe. One might ask himself why? Well that is where the second theme is derived, money can 't buy everything. As previously mentioned, Richard Cory is a wealthy man, but his wealth can 't buy him the love and care of other. This is something the townspeople fail to recognize. Although he has nice things and riches, Richard Cory does not have the one thing that they posses, and that 's the companionship and union with each other. Richard Cory is alone, and no sum of money buy him what they already