Edwin Arlington Robinson is known for his use of traditional poetic forms. Writing on the cusp of the modernist movement, Robinson's dedication to poetic form stands out among his American contemporaries who were more interested in experimentation and avant-garde styles of writing that took hold in the early twentieth century. When Robinson was questioned about whether he had ever written a poem in free verse, he said, "No, I write badly enough as it is."
Robinson's rejection of free verse and other experimental poetic forms is perhaps why the notoriety he enjoyed during his lifetime has not necessarily endured in the literary canon. While Robinson was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry three times, today he is known only for a handful of poems, of which "Richard Cory" is one. However, one of Robinson's prevailing motifs in his poetry is irony, or the disparity between perception/expectation and reality. In many ways, Robinson's use of traditional poetic forms aids his investment in bringing this disparity into stark relief.
"Richard Cory" is a notable example of this relationship between form and content in Robinson's work. It is written in relatively regular iambic pentameter and follows strictly the rhyme scheme of ABAB. The poem is balanced, even, and repetitive in its structure, inviting the reader into a sense of comfort and predictability—just as the townspeople in the poem maintain an uncomplicated interpretation of Richard Cory himself. At the end of the poem, when readers discover that Richard Cory takes his own life while the rest of the town goes about their usual business, the form of the poem mirrors this content in that it does not change. This disparity between the shocking revelation of Cory's suicide and the continued rhythm, meter, and rhyme highlight the poem's overall argument that appearance and outward image do not always correlate with private nuance or complexity.
