"Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson and Paul Simon

According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, "'Richard Cory'" is a song written by Paul Simon in early 1965, and recorded by Simon and Garfunkel for their second studio album, Sounds of Silence. The song was based on Edwin Arlington Robinson.s 1897 poem of the same title." Here is that poem.


RICHARD CORY
by Edwin 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 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 calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935)

American poet,

the author of the poem "Richard Cory"

To listen to the audio recording of Simon and Garfunkel singing Paul Simon's song "Richard Cory," click here.