3 Appearances Versus Reality in E.A. Robinson’s “Richard Cory” – Andrew Iwahashi

In E.A. Robinson’s poem, “Richard Cory”, appearances are misleading both in poetic form and subject matter. Richard Cory is a charismatic and eminent figure in the community, but also an elusive one who evokes both admiration and envy from the townspeople. We see Cory portrayed through the lens of a speaker who narrates the poem as the representative of a blue-collar working class finding themselves torn between being enamored by his genteel aura versus feeling covetous of his enviable socioeconomic privilege and status. In this essay, through various poetic elements utilized by Robinson, I will analyze the ostensible versus true nature of the relationship the narrator and the townspeople have with Richard Cory and will show how the envy and esteem of purported, superficial appearances have alienated Cory from being truly understood. Through deliberate diction, artful characterization, and intentional use of form, this essay will detail the ways Robinson reinforces the idea that appearances and reality are often in opposition by unpacking the notion that things are never as they seem.

From the onset, Robinson establishes a wide gulf between the townspeople and Richard Cory. Both figuratively and geographically, Robinson introduces Cory as separate from the working class “people of the pavement”, referring to them using the vague pronoun “we” and refusing to name or identify anyone (Robinson, line 1). Within the first few lines, we are immediately able to tell that the poem has a consistent rhyme and meter, iambic pentameter, which conjures an atmosphere of predictability and stability. Cory is characterized as a “gentleman from sole to crown”, imbued with a presence of regal majesty, ornamenting his characterization with diction such as “crown”, “imperially slim”, “clean favored”, etc. (Robinson, lines 3-4). Robinson depicts Cory as a stately, dignified man both in physique and aura; furthermore, he also notes how Cory is admired for the way he communicates without pretense or discrimination. His “quietly arrayed” countenance implies that he is humble and almost demure, and though soft-spoken, he is filled with a desire to seek a rapport and connection with the people (Robinson, line 5). Not only is Cory impressive in appearance and decorum but he is also personable, rendering him as a seemingly the quintessential, put-together gentleman both inside and out.

The early part of stanza two is where Robinson begins to disclose the subtle nuances of the relational dynamics between the townspeople and Richard Cory. We are quite aware of the fact that they are in awe of his social grace and elegance, but through Robinson’s revealing form, we are given the opportunity to make clear conclusions on some of their behavioral cues as well. Though the poem mentions that Cory makes an effort to talk to the people, Robinson’s deliberate omission of dialogue indicates that the townspeople do not verbally respond or converse with Cory. Instead, they seem to only stare and gaze at him in awe, as if he is an imposing statue in a museum. The reception he receives from the townspeople heightens both Cory’s initial characterization and the townspeople’s wonderment and veneration. The repetitive phrase “and he was always” that precedes each of the complimentary remarks of Cory being “human when he talked” and “quietly arrayed”, served to cements this idea of predictability within his apparent stability that will later on be shockingly shattered (Robinson, lines 5-6).

In stanza 3, Robinson reveals what is at the core and root of their admiration. Cory’s superficially abundant wealth, that is “richer than a king”, impels the speaker and the community to see Cory in direct contrast with their own circumstances, but only on an external level (Robinson, line 9). The speaker also notes that he is “admirably schooled in every grace”, implying that he has come from a radically different upbringing and heritage, educated in the polished and refined etiquette of the socially elite (Robinson, line 10). The caesura in line 9 allows these details to sink in, ushering in a decided pivot away from how we were led to believe the community saw Cory up until this point. Their admiration of him from here on begins to emerge more and more as envy as they grow more and more unable to see beyond his superficial glory. Their ostensible admiration quickly morphs into an exclusive view of him as an emblem of wealth, prosperity, and rarified education rather than a considerate, genuine, yet lonely aristocrat in need of a friend. But as the poem escalates, the idea that perhaps envy was always there all along while functioning under a guise of purported admiration becomes a compelling and likely plausible idea.

During this sudden shift in tone and diction, lines 11 and 12 abruptly cease the enumeration of reasons for the town’s glowing admiration of Cory and instead begin transitioning in a direction indicating how these same attributes are in actuality reasons they have to envy him. More important than appreciating the gentle geniality and charisma of Cory is the townspeople’s voracious desire to literally want to be Cory in regard to his social status, wealth, and circumstantial position. In this critical juncture in the poem, we begin to see that the community views him as a symbol but not as a human being. Their desire to “be in his place” deductively entails that Cory would lose his status as result, suggesting that the townspeople spend more time musing about usurping his position than caring about him and his best interest (Robinson, line 11). They are so caught up in what he represents to them that they become utterly blind to the fact that underneath all the grandeur he is a person just like them. By revealing their true attitude, Robinson shows that though Cory is an exciting idea, they do not see him as someone to love, cherish, and value. Perhaps most telling is the line “he was everything/ To make us wish that we were in his place”, revealing to us that to them Cory is nothing more than a symbol of everything that they do not have and can arguably never attain (Robinson, lines 11-12). Cory’s designation as a symbol by the community helps us grapple with the shock of how someone seemingly so satisfied on the outside could be so privately despondent. In the same way, it is equally shocking that someone who was perceived as nothing more than a fantastical representation could be so real in actuality. The enjambment of lines 11 and 12 signal to the reader that this is an emotional apex in the poem, a crucial illumination of the true nature of the community’s ‘admiration’, finally laying to rest the idea that maybe their admiration was not as innocuous as it had seemed early on in the poem.

Signaled by the word “So..” that immediately follows the line about them “wishing that we (they) were in his place”, Robinson links that sentiment of envy with the townspeople’s bleak, uninspiring monotony of their laborious, mundane lives (Robinson, lines 12-13). Through a commiserative act of solidarity to keep “on working and waiting for the light”, the community finds each other united in their dissatisfaction and unhappiness (Robinson, line 13). As a result, Cory is effectively shut out from their reality as he bears no place of relatability in their sphere. To them, he evokes a spotlight on and an accentuation of the deplorability of their situation. In the final, darkest moments of Cory’s existence, rather than reaching out to him in consolation and concerned interest, the community can only see him as disaffirming influence on their pitiful lives.

In the final two lines, Cory’s death is a ghastly shock because to all those who knew him both within the poem as fellow characters and outside of it as readers, it was utterly unthinkable that such a worshipped individual as Cory, who had seemingly every reason to be happy, could be in reality so fundamentally dissatisfied with life. Throughout the entire poem, Robinson has neatly laid out the verse in traditional iambic pentameter, that in association with the convincing portrayal of a life of luxury and prowess, made everything seem all too predictable and secure. The fact that the lines declaring Cory’s suicide fall within the structural bounds of this uninterrupted and consistent rhyme and meter make it all the more unpredictably jolting and blind-siding. It is in this moment of raw tragedy that we see in full clarity Robinson’s underlying mechanisms at work both poetically and narratively. Robinson has led us to believe faulty premises regarding Richard Cory and perhaps more unexpectedly, of the townspeople. He uses nearly three whole stanzas to almost exclusively uplift the intimidating yet tender grace and class of Richard Cory, leading us to believe that in every sense of physicality, finance, prestige, and influence he was of unparalleled satisfaction. He seemed to us, someone who by no means could be in private pain. In an uncannily similar way, Robinson also led us to believe that the townspeople were earnestly revering Richard Cory, continually lifting him up on a pedestal of admiration, when in actuality they harbored irrepressible feelings of envy and jealousy toward him that became more and more evident with each passing line.

Through the clash of these ostensible personas, we are faced with a powerful and far-reaching implication. Robinson deliberately leaves the motivation for Cory’s suicide a mystery but offers just enough potency in four stanzas for us to deduce a probable and compelling cause. Throughout the poem, we see a rift occurring between the two characters of the poem. Richard Cory, a lofty individual in a rarefied position, becomes more and more human and other-centered as time goes by. And in a reverse manner, we watch a seemingly inquisitive, adoring crowd transmute into a sulking and out of touch horde of people with every passing line. What Robinson has thoroughly inculcated by the end of the poem is that what appears on the surface could not have been further from the truth, but a truth that eludes our full understanding. As Robinson’s form and diction undergoes an unforeseen, gradual, and pernicious evolution in connotation, he completely revolutionizes and shakes up our understanding of the idea of appearances versus reality. In so doing, he begs us to withhold premature judgment while at the same time exhorting us to linger and look a little deeper both in poetry and personal relationships. His poem submits to us a reminder, a cautionary tale of sorts, that within the hidden portions of people’s lives is a vastly different reality that has the capacity to become increasingly alienated the more superficial and external qualities of a persona are vaunted. By the end of the poem, we come to know Richard Cory as someone who despite being born into a life of privilege and excess was yearning for basic human connection. It was that connection that became something he tragically failed to acquire, or perhaps even more incisively, something the people failed to give him. Because of the associations surrounding a life of affluence, Richard Cory was mistaken for being only something to either externally admire and covet from a distance, not someone to embrace and internally empathize with in a real way. And it was because of that superficial and shallow vision, that Cory’s demise became the necessary lens needed to reveal the true face behind a community that ultimately prized status over the intrinsic value of human life.

Works Cited

Robinson, E.A. “Richard Cory.” Robinson: Poems, by Edwin Arlington Robinson and Scott Donaldson, A.A. Knopf, New York, 2007.