Realism Project: Edwin Arlington Robinson

Edwin Arlington Robinson was a poet who was definitely considered a naturalist. He did not have a grand childhood growing up, and this affected his writing style and the topics he wrote on. Many of his poems were ironic, and two of these poems are "Richard Cory" and "Miniver Cheevy." Both of these poems are about people who seem to have their lives together, whether mentally or financially, but in the end, it is shown that they do not. One of the men, a very rich man, kills himself one day, and the other man, who seems to be an intelligent, romantic man, turns out to be a hard drunk, who is unable to quit his habit. In "Richard Cory," his first poem, Edwin Arlington Robinson writes

"Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, 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 clam summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head." (Robinson, 575)

Naturalists believed that when someone was not in sync, so to speak, or not at peace or in tune with nature, they would fail, because nature would get the best of them. In this particular poem, this is true. The main character seems to have his life together, and everyone envies him, because he is proud, sophisticated, and rich. But in the end, he dies by his own hand, and one can see how the environment, if one is not in tune with it, can and will win over the main character any day. This poem also shows the society at the time. There was a mixture of poor people and rich people, and it describes life for both the poor and the rich in this poem. The poor lacked money to buy even proper nutrition, and the rich had so much money, they could live comfortably and luxuriously for the rest of their lives. Yet, this poem also shows that being rich is not true happiness. The rich man, Richard Cory, takes his own life, and he was very rich and well set for the rest of his life. However, the poor people continued to work and did not pity themselves and ruin their own lives because they were poor. They persevered, and now they are ahead of the rich old man. This is a perfect example of naturalism, as is "Miniver Cheevy," by Edwin Arlington Robinson. These two poems portray naturalism through topic, nature, human psychology, and society. This is why they are categorized as part of the naturalism literary period.

Works Cited

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. "Richard Cory." Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. pg. 575.

Robinson, Edwin Arlington. "Miniver Cheevy." Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. pg. 576.