Applied Modernism

     Modernism has a few themes to it and the poem "Richard Cory" could relate to them. Off the bat, the poem was written during the Modernist Era. Modernist Poems were short and contained a lot of imagery. The point of view is also remote/detached from the subject, it's somewhat ironic but not unfeeling. Low Art- we could understand that no matter how successful someone seems, they could be going through inner problems that the outer world cannot identify. All these things combined make "Richard Cory" a Modernist poem.
     The Modernist Era began in the early 1900s and lasted until 1965. This poem was written and published in 1897, so it was one of the first Modernist poems. It also contains factors that make a poem Modern. The poem itself is pretty short, sixteen lines and four stanzas. The most Modernistic thing about "Richard Cory" is all the imagery. What Richard Cory does in the poem and how he looks is described in detail and you can gain a pretty good sense of what is happening in the poem.
     It's kind of hard to understand from what perspective this story is being told from but from the line "We people on the pavement looked at him", we can see that it is being told from another ordinary citizen. Though, I am not sure what point-of-view this poem is written in. Although we aren't all richer than a king, what happened to Richard Cory is understandable. Many people in this society hide their struggles so well in the inside to not affect those in the outside.
     In conclusion, "Richard Cory" is a Modernist poem. The poem is short, filled with images. It is slightly difficult to understand the perspective from where this story is being told but you could get a sense of the mood in the poem. The theme of "Richard Cory" is also relatable and fathomable to the people.
Here is the 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 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.