A POEM ON WHICH YOU SHOULD PONDER SOME BRIGHT, SUNNY AFTERNOON –
BUT NEVER IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT
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.
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.
************************************************
It is obvious with just a little thought that you may interpret the poem as meaning, “Wealth does not bring happiness;” good looks do not really matter to one’s personal satisfaction;” or “what do we really know about our fellow mankind?”
When I was a young boy, there was a popular radio show, a melodrama, known as “The Shadow!” The announcer, in a somber and foreboding voice, began each program with these words:
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?
The Shadow knows!
That still sends chills up my spine. It once sent chills up and down my spine, but I am older now & slightly more sophisticated.
Perhaps “The Shadow” did know – he had the script after all. Dear God, but I didn’t want that man in MY house telling MY parents what I thought about the teenage girl up the street. Bam! There went a set of chills DOWN MY SPINE!
But we have no script and I seriously ask you, “What is truly in the hearts of your friends? Love and hope and belief and kindness – or suffering, hatred and despair?”
Are you willing to find out if you have a Richard Cory on your hands?
PETO QUOD REPERIO QUOD VOS VADUM TENEO – Seek and find and you shall know.
With, respect, dignity and honor for all our friends,
Ralph B. Strickland, Jr.
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