Poetry is at the heart of the English language both as a tool of communication and as a cultural heritage that dates back to antiquity. Poetry is a diverse and complex art that takes a lifetime to decipher the poet's intention and motivation in poetic literature. This article explores the content and meaning imbued by the stylist of Robinson Edwin Arlington's 1897 poem; Richard Cory. “Richard Cory” is a sixteen-stanza poem that recounts the wealthy, elite, and noble, but socially unsatisfying, life of a man with the name that forms the title of the poem. The name Richard Cory is metaphorically derived from King Richard I; Richard the Lionheart (1157-1199) of England, and is used by the poet as a satire to mock the illusory and happy contentment of the poem's protagonist from society's perspective (Gateway 18). This essay explores the illusory wealth, elitist and noble identity of Richard Cory by his compatriots, and how these illusions led to his suicide. The poem criticizes society's idealism for wealth, wealth, elitism and nobility as the source of happiness. The images painted on Richard Cory in the poem are external, superficial, aesthetic humanizations of society's imagination. Richard Cory is portrayed as a rich, wealthy, elitist and noble gentleman, visibly towering over the audience. He is a stranger in the neighborhood in terms of social class, and he is a lone social ranger and outsider; if not an outcast, at least in a social class. Nevertheless, Richard Cory's relationship with his relatively inferior or lower-class compatriots is not that of a hated intruder, an outsider, an outcast, or someone subjected to racist discrimination. In fact, he is adored by his countrymen...... middle of paper ...... we cannot fill the social void in his spiritual soul. Richard Cory's suicide will remain an enigma in the minds of his compatriots, which is complicated by a literal perspective on life. Likewise, Richard Cory's life will remain unfulfilled even in immortality, because the spirit that yearns for social compassion is immortal and unresolved even after death. Works Cited “Bible Gateway.” Biblical gateway. Np, and Web. December 3, 2013. "Richard I Coeur de Lion ("The Lionheart") (r.1189-1199)." The British monarchy. Np, and Web. December 3, 2013. .Roberts, Edgar V. and Robert Zweig. Literature: an introduction to reading and writing. Fifth compact edition ed. Glenview: Pearson, 2012. Print.