(no subject)

[vriad_lee]

Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson


Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean-favoured 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!" 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.

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,
Went home and put a bullet in his head.

Comments

[poemtree.livejournal.com]

another poem that i had to decipher in highschool.

oh and also, van morrison sang this.

[vriad-lee.livejournal.com]

i heard a song by garfunkel (or how are they spelled), but the lyrics weren't quite the same

[inconvenience.livejournal.com]

There might even be another one as well...I know I heard his name sung elsewhere.

[vriad-lee.livejournal.com]

also, i wonder what is there to analyse???

[kazablanka.livejournal.com]

well, in High School things are not that obvious...the social implication, the period in which it was written...poetic devices...etc.

The S&G song ("wish that i could be...richard corey") is an homage to this well-known poem. so, comparing them isn't really the point. each has its own beauty. although, admittedly, it isn't one of Paul Simon's best. still that's saying a lot...the man is a brilliant songwriter. imho.

[vriad-lee.livejournal.com]

well, yes, i like them too (although i stopped listening to them a long time ago). but i like the poem better than the song anyway. of course you're right about high-school analysis, it's just that there are so many really complicated poems that don't make sense to me as a whole or in part...

[kazablanka.livejournal.com]

i stopped listening to them too. it sort of loses its charm once you have them all memorized :)

one of my favorite poems is Severianin's "ananasy v shampanskom". just thought i'd tell you. :)

[vriad-lee.livejournal.com]

well, i just read it. Из Москвы - в Нагасаки! Из Нью-Йорка - на Марс! ah-ha-ha-ha!

[kazablanka.livejournal.com]

funny because NY implicitly becomes the "farthest reaches of the world"?

i think this poem has the greatest rhythm and sounds. i imagine it was written from outer space. :)

[purplesquirrel.livejournal.com]

I like that poem.

[vriad-lee.livejournal.com]

i like it much better than that garfunkel version