Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Richard Cory

  1. Images of Royalty in Cory — not what you might expect in New York

    1. Royal words — many words here do double duty, meaning one thing, connoting something completely different; Robinson often works against the common meaning of the word.
      1. Gentleman (l. 3)
      2. Crown
      3. Favored (dual meaning: facial appearance {archaic} and blessed with advantages)
      4. Imperially slim (are emperors normally slim?)
      5. Arrayed (means decorative clothing, but this is quiet)
      6. Richer than a king
      7. Grace ("your grace")
      8. In fine — another odd word: precision and superiority

    2. Royal attributes
      1. Quietly arrayed; human (why make a point of saying so?)
      2. Flutters pulses (movie star? what is it like to meet royalty—as in Mrs. Dalloway?)
      3. Glitters when he walks
      4. Richer than a king
      5. Schooled in every grace. Who is schooled that way?

    3. His name
      1. Richard may recall the kings of England
      2. Richard Coeur d'Lion — perhaps, but not necessary
      3. Not much made of names, but it is one of the simplest in Tilbury Town

  2. Oppositions between Cory and population

    1. He comes downtown; we're already there
    2. We on the pavement; he's presumably not
    3. We are still waiting for the light
    4. We work; he's just rich
    5. We have no meat
    6. We wish we were in his place—we do not wish to be him, just to have his position and stuff

  3. About his death

    1. Irony of setting: calm summer night at home contrasted to violence of his manner of death. No preparation in the poem prior to the last half of the last line.
    2. Irony of motivation: all our observations are of externals (clothing, possessions, behavior that he has been schooled in)
    3. Why does Robinson work the nobility thing so hard before the death?

      1. Death of aristocracy in the new world? Not likely.
      2. Like so many others in Tilbury Town, the facade hides a darker story. Eben Flood, the merry drunk hides a lonely, rejected man. John Evereldown goes sneaking through the night woods to women he cannot resist. The tragedy of Miniver Cheevy and George Crabbe lie on the surface for all to see. Richard Cory's was hidden deep—only he knew.