"Richard Cory" and "Miniver Cheevy" - Edwin Arlington Robinson

Edwin Arlington Robinson's two poem's "Richard Cory" and "Miniver Cheevy" are both very ironic and depressing poems. "Richard Cory" is about the legendary "man of the crowd" that everyone in the town wants to be like. He is a very quiet and not a flashy man; he walks the streets with grace. "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. And he was always quietly arrayed, and he was always human when he talked; but still he flutters pulses when he said, 'Good-morning,' and he glittered when he walked. 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" (Robinson, "Richard" 575). So all of these people in the town wanted Richard Cory's life. They wanted his schooling, his grace, his money; but then we learn that on a summer night he killed himself. This is very ironic because everyone wanted to be like him, but he did not want to be him; and so he took his life. "Richard Cory" relates to realism because of this real life situation that happened. Realism is the depiction of life as it actually exists (Werlock), and this is what happens in real life. Sometimes people just are not happy, and they are unhappy enough to take away their life. "A realist carefully chooses details that illustrate this vision" (Werlock). These details of his wealth and like-ability add to this twist of the story in the end that makes it seem real. And these details which Robinson uses relate it "Richard Cory" to realism.

"Miniver Cheevy" is also another depressing poem about a person who is depressed. The main character, Miniver Cheevy, is a man who questions his life. He wants to live, yes, but he wishes he had lived about 400 years earlier than he actually was living. "Miniver lover the days of old when swords were bright and steeds were prancing.....he missed the medaevil grace of iron clothing (Robinson, "Miniver" 576). Miniver just wants to live in those days. But Miniver cannot do anything about it so he takes another drink out of his sorrows. This poem has the characteristics of realism because of the details put into to the story by Robinson that try to depict Miniver's life. Robinson is telling us of all of these people Miniver wishes he could be and things he wants to be apart of and it creates this image of who Miniver actually is.

Both "Richard Cory" and "Miniver Cheevy" are excellent examples of human nature and psychology. They are a look at what makes people sad. "Richard Cory" is hard to put the pieces of the puzzle together because it seems he has everything; money, people's love; but he just is not happy. In "Miniver Cheevy" we read of a man who is unhappy because he wishes he lived in a different time period. It is surroundings which make him sad. A lot of people do deal with depression, but it is a part of life. It is something people can not handle, which is what we see in "Richard Cory," suicide. Then their are ways, like drinking in "Miniver Cheevy," to handle depressions. But these are not the best ways for people to handle it; it just is what appears in these poems by Edwin Arlington Robinson that makes them real.





Robinson, Edwin Arlington. "Miniver Cheevy." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus; McGraw-Hill, 2010. 576. Print.


Robinson, Edwin Arlington. "Richard Cory." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus; McGraw-Hill, 2010. 575. Print.


Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Feb 15, 2011.