E.A. Robinson |
8. Richard Cory
Words by Edwin Arlington Robinson (1865-1935)
From "The Children Of The Night"
Music by Richard C. Davis
It is surely trite to suggest that people have greater value than "things of the world." But if we can be reminded to be more caring--whether rich or poor--this poem shall not have been writ in vain. And perhaps Mr. Robinson's own death and its causes might be better understood. It was also he who, in "John Brown," enigmatically stated: "I shall have more to say when I am dead."
Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the sidewalk looked at him:
Well, he was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored (and clean-shaven), 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," (How do you do?) and he glittered when he walked.
And he was oh, so rich. Yes, richer than a king: -
And admirably schooled in every grace;
In fine, he was just about 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,
Well, he went home (all alone) and put a bullet through his head.
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