"Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson (poetry reading)

[ShotgunTheMan]

Wow .

Research some time pays Off .

Regards ,

Shotgun

[Jayoung1000]

Great poem and great song!

[ceberusbotcatcher]

Being a star, being a celebrity with all the fame and money and whatnot, is not as great as people believe it is.

It's "We people" vs. Richard Cory, him vs. the World.

People who idolize them, make them something other than human, and at times, that can lead to a loneliness only escapable through death.

[RobertoOneEye]

I absolutely love this poem.

[sma9401]

Richard Cory is my favorite poem of all time.

[kipptumor]

Damn smart people - I can't ever tell if that is sarcasm or if you are being serious ;)

[kipptumor]

I don't know, man - was "Richard Cory" decent to his labor force? Was he unreasonable in his demands of them? Was he a hypocrite? Would the world really miss this person? Was there anything redeeming about his character other than being wealthy? I mean, if the "message" is that money does not buy happiness that should be instilled in most of us from age three up I suppose. It is those who believe money equates to happiness that may deserve the self-inflicted bullet for being such cocks.

[SpokenVerse]

The poem doesn't have anything to say about those issues. You final point might be the same point that the poem makes.

In my experience money may not buy happiness but it does permit us to be miserable in comfort. What use is happiness anyway? You can't take it to the bank and get money for it.

[FluidwithinStrife]

SpokenVerse: "In my experience money may not buy happiness but it does permit us to be miserable in comfort."

Damn that's pessimistic! You're forgetting that money can also help you get the psychotherapeutic and psychiatric help you need. For instance, Major Depression can be successfully treated with Cognitive Therapy, Interpersonal Psychotherapy, Anti-Depressants, Electro-Convulsive Therapy and other treatments. There's a lot of scientific evidence to support that.

[gotohell714]

@kipptumor i figured it was a gay guy with some kind of self hate, the way he was slim and glitterry and all that, but good points you make about wealth deriving from other peoples poverty.

[kipptumor]

@gotohell714 I have met many a wealthy man, and most are just as "happy" as the rest of us. Seems the more things they own tend, after a time, to own them.

[gotohell714]

@kipptumor i actually forgot that gay means happy. No wonder the "happy" marriage movement is facing obstacles. That would destroy half the lawyers' careers.

[searcherboy]

"The commonest motivation for suicide is incompetence."

Yes. That's the truth. You feel a uselessness that seems too big to overcome, too ingrained to reverse, alter, or redeem. But how do you overcome incompetence, once you have a concrete awareness that has become rooted in your life? The awareness of "important stuff still to do" isn't going to cut it, if you think you're too incompetent to do this important stuff. What do you do when suicide becomes a real, plausible out?

[SpokenVerse]

Razors pain you;

Rivers are damp;

Acids stain you;

And drugs cause cramp.

Guns aren't lawful;

Nooses give;

Gas smells awful;

You might as well live. -- Dorothy Parker

[shadowylie]

@SpokenVerse great poem and an amazing woman with an acid tongue and acerbic wit.

[chipnoon]

Perfect commentary!

[sleepingTitania]

Thankyou for your reading and also for your down to earth analysis. We could all do with kindness and straight-talk. They are both loving acts. Anybody can feel isolated, everybody does at one time or another. People don't want to be preached at, they want to feel that they are understood, that they are loved.

[ZeppelinFromtheLake]

another thing you can get from this poem is that things are not always what they seem...people thought he was perfect but inside of himself he was a sad man who wanted to get out of the image that everyone saw him as...a short poem that says a lot...thanx again

[ZeppelinFromtheLake]

thank you :-)