By Edwin Arlington Robinson

 Friends helped him arrange the private printing of 3 books of his poetry  Became the most successful American poet of the 1920s  Set free from financial worries of his past when he was appointed to a post at the New York Customhouse by Roosevelt  Best poems focus on people’s inner struggles  Paints portraits of desperate characters who view their lives as trivial and meaningless or who long to live their lives in another time or place (p. 664)

 The voice of a poem  Although the speaker is often the poet, the speaker may also be a fictional character or even an inanimate object or another type of non-human entity  Interpreting a poem often depends upon recognizing who the speaker is, whom the speaker is addressing and what the speaker’s tone is Whenever Richard Cory went to town, We people on the pavement looked at him Who is the speaker of this poem?

 Occurs when rhyming words are repeated at the end of lines Whenever Richard Cory went to town, We people on the pavement looked at him: He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored and, and imperially slim

 Group of lines in a poem that are considered to be a unit Couplet- a 2-line stanza Tercet- a 3-line stanza Quatrain- a 4-line stanza Cinquain- a 5-line stanza Whenever Richard Cory went to town, We people on the pavement looked at him: He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored and, and imperially slim How would you classify this poem?

 They say that Richard Cory owns one half of this whole town, With political connections to spread his wealth around. Born into society, a banker's only child, He had everything a man could want: power, grace, and style.  But I work in his factory And I curse the life I'm living And I curse my poverty And I wish that I could be, Oh, I wish that I could be, Oh, I wish that I could be Richard Cory.  The papers print his picture almost everywhere he goes: Richard Cory at the opera, Richard Cory at a show. And the rumor of his parties and the orgies on his yacht! Oh, he surely must be happy with everything he's got.  But I work in his factory And I curse the life I'm living And I curse my poverty And I wish that I could be, Oh, I wish that I could be, Oh, I wish that I could be Richard Cory.  He freely gave to charity, he had the common touch, And they were grateful for his patronage and thanked him very much, So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read: "Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head."  But I work in his factory And I curse the life I'm living And I curse my poverty And I wish that I could be, Oh, I wish that I could be, Oh, I wish that I could be Richard Cory

“Richard Cory” Poem“Richard Cory” Song Speaker 5 adjectives that describe the type of man people thought Richard Cory to be ●●●●●●●●●● ●●●●●●●●●● How speaker feels about Richard Cory Your perception of Richard Cory as a man Purpose Central Message

Does the song change your interpretation of the poem? Why or why not? Do you like the song or the poem better? Why?

Rewrite the poem from Richard’s perspective. Follow the format used by Robinson, using 4 quatrains and irony.