On Richard Cory

（杭州師范大學，浙江 杭州 311121）（Hangzhou Normal University Zhu Qing）

Richard Cory is a remarkable poem written by Edwin Arlington Robinson， the first major American poet of the twentieth century. Just as Radcliffe Squires commented， “… Robinson wrote for all time， for ‘all time’ wants to be made healthy and to survive，” Richard Cory， beyond time and space， stimulates us to cogitate on life.

Richard Cory is a decent gentleman who possesses enviable figure and enormous wealth suicides one night. The poem is a four line iambic pentameter， consisting of four quatrains. It applies a fixed beat and regular rhyme scheme， viz.， abab cdcd efef ghgh. The clear structure on account of the regular form helps to convey the meaning， display the character’s regular temperament， and add a sense of irony. （脫穎，侯濤 76）

From the perspective of a bystander， Richard Cory is a physically good-looking， slim， well-dressed， courteous， wealthy， well-educated， graceful， and powerful gentleman. The diction chosen to describe Richard Cory conspicuously shows the ordinary people’s admiration for him. In the first stanza， “from sole to crown” rather than more commonly used phrase “from head to foot” or “from top to toe” is chosen to show his temperament of being a gentleman. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary， “crown” means a wreath， band， or circular ornament for the head， a royal or imperial headdress or cap of sovereignty. Form the explanation above， it is easy to understand that “crown，” representing glory， beauty， or royalty， is a synecdoche to indicate how dignified Richard Cory is in commoners’ eye. In addition， “clean favoured” and “imperially slim” describe his wonderful complexion and figure. “Imperially” directly tells his outstanding social status. In the second stanza， the literary phrase “quietly arrayed” substitutes for the comparably colloquial phrase “simply dressed” to further elaborate his decency and reveal people’s worship. “Human” reflects that the narrator admits he is not a king， but a human. However， “fluttered pulses” and “glittered” show that his elegant manners and imply that those people regard him as a supreme person whom they cannot and will not get close to. In the third stanza， “admirably schooled” rather than “wonderfully trained/educated” shows he is superior to other classes and his cultural cultivation makes most people respect and envy him. “Every grace” shows that every tiny behaviour or movement is graceful. The first three stanzas convey that Richard Cory is nearly perfect and doubtlessly successful considering his appearance， social status， manner， property， and educational level. By comparing the words used for Richard Cory with those for ordinary people， such as “looked at”， “make”， “wish，” one can obviously see the distinction and distance between the two types and the flawlessness of Richard Cory is emphasized.

Whereas， after three progressive stanzas of praising Richard Cory， the perfect and admirable gentleman suddenly suicides at night. What causes Richard Cory’s death？ One reason can be found in the last stanza. Ordinary people are waiting for the “light，” while Richard Cory dies at “night.” “Light” and “night” is a pair of opposite words. Light symbolizes bright future- being as wealthy as Richard Cory- while night symbolizes darkness， despair， loneliness， and so on. Ordinary people are still alive for they hold the light， while Richard Cory dies for he could not see the light， meaning he is spiritually empty. Additionally， the adjective “calm” before “summer night” applies a figure of speech- transferred epithet， which means “calm”， not describing the night but Richard Cory. In other words， when Richard Cory puts a bullet through his head， he is calm. From his attitude， one thing is certain that to suicide is not an impulse， but a deliberate decision. （劉璐，王斌 252） If one comes back to the previous stanzas， another cause to his death can be inferred that he is isolated from the other people. In the second stanza， the only communication between him and other people is a greeting “Good-morning.” Common people think he is superior and their social status is unequal to his， so they spontaneously keep away from him and simply stand aside to worship him. Because of the distinction， Richard Cory is doomed to be alienated and estranged.

Richard Cory’s death is a situational irony.（葛曉芳 83） The enchanting appearance and decent manners fail to guarantee a happy life， but the bystanders blindly admire and wish to possess them. Two kinds of attitudes remind me of the words written by Ch’ien Chung-shu， “Marriage is like a fortress besieged： those who are outside want to get in， and those who are inside want to get out.” Life is also the same. Those who have not tasted the pleasure of fame and wealth are eager to be millionaire， while those who are already achieved what they want find there is nothing else for them to chase. When they realize life is meaningless or hopeless， they hope to escape from the earthly world to pursue the spiritual enrichment. Ergo， Richard Corydenies the established values which others take for granted and chooses death as his means for the Robinson himself believed that “there is a good deal to live for， but a man has to go through hell really to find it out.”

In fact， Richard Cory’s story is a true portrayal of the real society we live in. About a week ago， twenty-two-year-old singer Ben Xi suicided； about three months ago， twenty-eight-year-old actor and singer Kimi suicided； over thirteen years ago， forty-six-year-old Leslie Cheung suicided. They were no doubt wealthy and famous people， but the fame and money could not save their lives. Why？ No one knows the exact reason， but it is certain that they were unhappy even though they had earned a large amount of money. They were Richard Cory while those fans are the people who admire them and wish to be as famous and wealthy as them. Money is necessary for daily life， but it is not the end and it can never bring one everlasting fulfilment. Fame is charming for it can satisfy human’s vanity that is the innate nature. However， when one ignores one’s spiritual world in the pursuit of outside objectives， they will find nothing in their hand one day. Form the examples above and Robinson’s poem， we should keep our mind clean and prevent from being cheated by the seemingly attractive appearance.

References：

[1]脫穎，侯濤. 現實主義向現代主義過渡時期文學作品的特點 [J]. 太原理工大學學報，2016年，34卷（3）：76-79