Richard Cory

"Miniver Cheevy" by Edwin Arlington Robinson (1910)

This poem, published after “Richard Cory,” still maintains many of the signature elements present in Robinson’s earlier work. “Miniver Cheevy” also has a fable-like quality, as many of Robinson’s poems do. This poem teaches a lesson about a boy who is not content with the drudgery of his modern life and lusts after the days of sword fighting and gallant knights. Because the boy spends all his time dreaming and wishing, not unlike the townspeople in “Richard Cory,” he never accomplishes anything, a fate the poem attempts to warn against. With its brief and simple syntax as well as its strict rhyme scheme, this poem dives a bit deeper into the dangers of wishing one’s life away.

"The House on the Hill" by Edwin Arlington Robinson (1896)

This poem appears immediately before “Richard Cory” in The Children of the Night. “The House on the Hill” paints a haunting picture of an abandoned house. The speaker focuses on the grim and crumbling architecture and addresses the emptiness and forgotten memories of the people who once occupied the house. Although the poem’s final stanza breaks with the consistent three-line stanza form, overall, this poem displays Robinson’s characteristic allegiance to rhyme and meter.