| Louis Untermeyer, ed. (1885–1977). Modern American Poetry. 1919. |
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| Edwin Arlington Robinson. 1869– |
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| 45. Richard Corey |
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| 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. | |
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| And he was always quietly arrayed, | 5 |
| And he was always human when he talked; | |
| But still he fluttered pulses when he said, | |
| "Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked. | |
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| And he was rich—yes, richer than a king, | |
| And admirably schooled in every grace: | 10 |
| In fine, we thought that he was everything | |
| To make us wish that we were in his place. | |
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| 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, | 15 |
| Went home and put a bullet through his head. | |
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