This poem is one of those given as an example for analysis in chapter 5 of Quest 3 Reading and Writing. After our discussion in class this morning, I continued to think about it and decided that this wouldn't be a bad place to write down some of my thoughts. Please feel welcome to disagree, with support. I've added my thoughts as comments.
Richard Corey by Edward Arlington Robinson
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich—yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
__________
References
Robinson, E.A. (1999). Richard Corey. Bartleby.com. Taken from L. Untermeyer, (ed.), Modern American Poetry. 1919, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe. Retrieved March 26, 2009 from http://www.bartleby.com/104/45.html
First, I've never taught chapter 5 of the 2nd edition of Quest 3 before, so most of the poems there are new to me, as you probably guessed from my fairly poor efforts at reading them aloud.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I was expecting a variety of different responses to the three poems on pages 171 - 174, I wasn't expecting such a consistent idea that the envy that the we who speak had towards Corey was useless. In the first line of the last stanza, when the speaker says "So on we worked," it sounded to me as though their feelings and ideas about Richard Corey were a reason for them to persevere with their own lives as they waited for a happier time to come, perhaps in the next life, when they too would have a chance to live in the light. And that doesn't sound useless to me, even if it was based on a perception that was completely false.
The reality is, perhaps, that Richard Corey himself had no such hope and for whatever reason decided that his life was not worth living. And his reasons for that? Again, although the poet may hint at some possible answers, it appears to be uncertain why Richard Corey shoots himself. Perhaps he had a serious problem, or maybe he didn't have any actual problem, but just lacked the same sort of symbol of something to hope for for himself that he provided for the speaker and ordinary town's people.
There is a lot to think about in it, and very different interpretations and analyses of poetry are often possible, so please don't feel obliged to agree with me.
_______________
In case you're wondering: this was not strictly a response writing. It took me about fifteen minutes to write because I planned it, looked for evidence, and then revised my idea a little as I wrote, which meant going back and making a few changes. I had also been thinking about it for an hour or so as I walked home and had lunch. If you would like to write an essay on Richard Corey, or one of the other poems, please feel welcome. Or just write a long response here to present your ideas about what is important in the poem. I think some discussion of poetry would make a nice change from the Economist and New Scientist.
According to Peter, “you probably guessed from my fairly poor efforts at reading them aloud.”
ReplyDeleteI didn't think your reading in the class was fairly poor, because “Marrying” doesn't have rhyme much. It might be that I never heard a English poem before. And Thais poetry has many strict roles. Every line must has inner rhyme and outer rhyme, and between each stanzas must has rhyme to link sound, so I become familiar a poem that have many rhyme.
I think a poem is the way to express writer feeling. Hartmann also said in “Appreciation Poetry” that “Poetry is one kind of writing that can catch such emotions and ideas and give them form” (¶1, 2007) Therefore, a reader should read a poem with emotion as well. Moreover, it's difficult to find solid evidents to express a emotion. However, two important things that I should have to understand a poem well are culture and religion, but I don't. So, I will think from my feeling only.
The speaker says “So on we worked” in the last stanza; it may only means that they're poor, they just worked go on. If they don't work, they might die because of lack of money to buy food.
In this case, the problem word is envy. envy can be think that it motivates someone work harder. However, in this poem, I don't think it stimulates ordinary people work harder, because if “the light” is metaphor of heaven, they don't have to work harder for going to heaven in next life. Then, if “the light” is metaphor of rich, it possible that envy motivates people work harder. However, In the last stanza, the speaker says “And went without the meat, and cursed the bread”, it shows that they is very poor; it's impossible to be like Mr. Richard Corey. As a result, envy doesn't make any benefit; it's useless to envy people whom you don't know well.
References
Robinson, E.A. (1999). Richard Corey. Bartleby.com. Taken from L. Untermeyer, (ed.), Modern American Poetry. 1919, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe. Retrieved March 26, 2009 from http://www.bartleby.com/104/45.html
Hartmann, P. (2207). In Quest 3 Reading and Writing (2nd. ed., p. 168 - 170). McGraw-Hill ESL/ELT.
Mark's point about needing the cultural background sounds true to me. In order to understand a poem, every word is important, but that's just the start: you also need to be able to follow the cultural references and assumptions.
ReplyDeleteIn Richard Cory, I thought that the word "So" that begins the last stanza was important: it is a conjunction which links what went before to what is coming next, and the link is cause and effect.
What do you think are the causes and effects here?
But I agree completely that the line “And went without the meat, and cursed the bread” does show the people to be poor. Do you think that the poet, not necessarily the speaker, also thinks that the people are spiritually poor? What does the poem say about the people who went on working and living, while Richard Cory did not?
ReplyDeleteOops, a clarification:
ReplyDeleteIn my last comment, I meant what else, apart from being poor and envying, does the poem tell us about the people who went on working as they "waited for the light"? Are they also envious? What else?