Short Poem 24

I believe I first came across this poem in a Banner of Truth workbook on the Shorter Catechism. E A Robinson (1869-1935) was an American poet who won three Pulitzer prizes. Many of his poems, it seems, have a dark pessimism. It is speculated that the Cory poem is about his brother. More here. Apparently the poem was made famous by Simon & Garfunkel, although their version seems quite different.

Richard Cory by Edward 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 through his head.