…………….Richard Cory
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.
That was always one of my favorites. I wonder…if the poem were written in the 21st century would be the last line be: “Took zoloft, then refused to leave his bed.” Considering the importance of that last line, I think the poem would lose it’s impact.
🙂 Could be, on your last line. The poem does depend on the last and his is quite startling.