Richard Cory is a narrative poem written from the point of view of common man. All that glitters is not gold.

1. Poem by
Edwin Arlington Robinson
Prepared by
Laxmikant Kapgate

2. About poet
Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935), an acclaimed
American Poet
Often called a romantic existentialist
Most famous for his Tilbury Towns (place in New
England) poems
Won Pulitzer Prize for poetry on three occasions
Nominated for Nobel prize in Literature
four times

3. About poem
A narrative poem
Written from the point of view common people
They believe that wealth, looks and fame make people
happy
Fact is “ All that glitters is not gold.”

4. Stanza I
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.
Glossary:
Crown= head"
Favored= a specified physical
appearance
Imperially= majestically or royally
pavement = surface

5. Stanza II
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.
Glossary:
Arrayed=dressed
Favored= a specified physical
appearance
Imperially= majestically or royally
pavement = surface

6. Stanza III
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.

7. Stanza IV
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.

8. Themes
Appearances Can Be Deceiving
 Wealth and Happiness
 Envy Vs Admiration

9. Form
•four-line stanzas that follow an ABAB
rhyme scheme.
•Iambic pentameter-each line
consisting of five iambs (two-
syllable feet with an accent on the
second syllable
da DUM I da DUM

10. "Richard Cory," in its heroic stanza structure and its
loose elegiac themes, can be traced back to early modern
influences like John Dryden's Heroic Stanzas on the Death of
Oliver Cromwell and 18th century quatrains like those in
Thomas Grey's Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard.