richard cory by edwin arlington robinson

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  • 8/14/2019 Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson

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    Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson 1869)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 richyes, 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 through his head.

    The speaker of this poem belongs to the lower class. When Richard Cory went to the city, the speaker andhis friends would look at him. Richard Cory looked a perfect gentleman. He seemed to be enjoying all the

    advantages. He was well dressed. He talked very politely. But when he said good morning, he would be

    over-excited. The jewellery he wore would shine brightly. He was richer than a king. He was trained inevery kind of polite behavior. The speaker was jealous of him and wished that he had been Richard Cory.The working class people would work hard but they could afford only bread, not meat.

    This modern American poem quietly exposes the irony of a rich gentlemans life. Corywas the only son of an extremely rich merchant who owned almost half the place. Hewas everyones ideal and dream. But he killed himself suddenly, without apparent reason.The incident has become the subject matter of other poets also, but Robinsonsviewpoint and meaning is unique. Irony is the main feature in the poem.

    Richard Cory is basically an ironic poem. It deals with the irony that rich people are not happy with their life,

    and the poor think that wealth is the guarantee of happiness. Richard Cory, the character, is also an individual

    who represents the irony of modern American life.

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    The Boston Evening Transcript by T.S. Eliot (1917)

    The readers of the Boston Evening Transcript

    Sway in the wind like a field of ripe corn.

    When evening quickens faintly in the street,

    Wakening the appetites of life in some

    And to others bringing the Boston Evening Transcript,

    I mount the steps and ring the bell, turning

    Wearily, as one would turn to nod good-bye to Rochefoucauld,

    If the street were time and he at the end of the street,

    And I say, Cousin Harriet, here is the Boston Evening Transcript.

    The poem The Boston Evening Transcript by TS Eliot uses many literary techniques to emphasize that peopleduring the time period were easily manipulated. A metaphor combined with a simile is used in the second line of

    the poem. According to the speaker, the readers of the Boston Evening Transcript sway in the wind like a field

    of ripe corn. The speaker is dehumanizing the readers of the newspaper and makes the tone negative and

    derogatory. By comparing people to ripe corn the speaker is clearly stating what he thinks of the readers. Tone is

    once again shown as the speaker illustrates the contrast between people that read the newspaper and people who

    do not. Comparing these two groups of people by stating, when evening quickens faintly in the street, wakeningthe appetites of life in some and to others bringing the Boston Evening Transcript. Stating what the speaker

    observes in the two separate groups clearly embodies his (the speakers) view on the newspaper. The tone of the

    entire poem is negative and against the Boston Evening Transcript. Through the poem, readers can see what the

    effect of this particular newspaper does to people and how easily it can take over their lives. Again stating that

    the readers prefer to read the newspaper instead of doing something else, influences their opinions on different

    subjects. At the end of the poem the speaker adds, Cousin Harriet, here is the Boston Evening Transcript,

    which shows that even though things are not always positive and do have a negative effect on peoples lives it isjust the way things will always be.

    In a Station of the Metro

    The apparition of these faces in the crowd;

    Petals on a wet, black bough.

    Ezra Pound, 1916

    This poem is all about imagery and the emotions evoked by these visuals. The image of the faces slowlymaterializing out of the crowded darkness gives the poem a mysterious effect, yet the image of colored petals on

    a black branch is a joyful and hopeful one. Putting the two conflicting ideas together create this sort of rounded

    effect in which the poem can cover two contrasting sentiments in only two lines. This could also represent the

    complexity of the human mind to feel many different emotions at oncesomething only humans have the

    ability to do as far as we know. So we can determine that this poem is solely about human beings and the beautyof human life as well as the complexity of our minds.

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    The winter evening settles down

    The winter evening settles down

    With smell of steaks in passageways.

    Six o'clock.

    The burnt-out ends of smoky days.

    And now a gusty shower wraps

    The grimy scraps

    Of withered leaves about your feet

    And newspapers from vacant lots;

    The showers beat

    On broken blinds and chimney-pots,

    And at the corner of the street

    A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps.

    And then the lighting of the lamps.

    T.S. Eliot, 1917

    It presents to us a desolate image gallery that captures a squalid, pointless and boring cityscape and its

    random happenings which only reinstate stasis. The settling down of the winter evening is made to

    imitate the movement with which a cat settles down or takes its seat. There is a synesthetic imagery that

    combines sights, smells, taste and so on. There are smells of steaks and the smoke that comes out of the

    burnt out butt of a cigar is what the end of the day is compared. There is a connotation of exhaustion and

    boredom everywhere in this landscape.

    The random shower, the grimy scraps, the heap of withered leaves all symbolize a lifeless hollowness of

    modern day urban existence, so very characteristic of early Eliot.

    The lonely cab-horse is the acute symbol of helpless rage, frustration and absolute alienation with which

    the fragment comes to a close. The lighting of the lamps is like a switch from the darkness so far

    described and fleshed out in different ways but as the other fragments imply, this lighting is not at all non-

    problematic.

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    IN MEMORIAM JOHN COLTRANE

    Listen to the coal

    rolling, rolling, through the cold

    steady rain, wheel on

    wheel, listen to the

    turning of the wheels this night

    black as coal dust, steel

    on steel, listen to

    these cars carry coal, listen

    to the coal train roll.

    This poem uses words that create sounds to create other words. I has to be read aloud in order to beunderstood. John Coltrane was a famous jazz saxophonist and is glorified in this poem, therefore if its

    read with a jazz-like demeanor, it can be understood best. The first line Listen to the coal is really saying

    listen to the col as in Coltrane. The second line says, rolling, rolling through the cold/ steady rain, wheel

    on which can be translated to rolling, rolling through the Colt-steady-trane as in keep playing those

    steady notes and wheel on can be changed into roll on which once again means play on. In the

    second stanza the first line says, wheel, listen to the which can be heard as Well listento the and goes

    on to say, turning of the wheels this night/ black as coal dust, steel which can be heard as, turning of

    the wheels this night black has called us still which could be interpreted as the music that Coltrane is

    playing, is calling them and reaching out to them. The last stanza, on steel, listen to/ these cars carry coal,

    listen/ to the coal train roll which can be heard as, and still, listen to these cars carry Col, listen to the

    Coltrane roll which can be translated into the idea that even though hes gone, still listen to his music

    that carries him on, listen to him play. I found the sound elements in this poem very intriguing. Stillman

    would repeat the emphasized word from the last line of each stanza into the first line of the next forexample the end of the first stanza has the line wheel on and the the first line of the next line is wheel

    which creates a very rhythmic, much like music and much like that of a train. When the poem is read

    aloud and put all together the effect that you get is much different than when sitting and reading it word

    for word on paper. It creates a two-tiered effect when trying to analyze the poem because first, you can

    analyze the real wording. He uses imagery of a train, a train follows rhythm, and Coltrane most certainly

    had rhythm. Then you get the idea of moving on, being carried on, as in his legacy will live on. And then

    listening to the sound you get a different interpretation entirely which is that your listening to him play

    his music and that he just plays on and on his music and that well still listen . If I were to re -write this

    poem entirely for the sound effects to ensure that a reader understood I would most likely do something

    similar to this:

    Listen to the Col.

    Rollin, rollin through.

    The Col-steady-trane, wheel on!

    Well listen to the turning of the wheels

    this night black has called us still

    And still!

    Listen to these cars carry Col!

    Listen to the Coltrane roll!

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