Poetry is central to 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 intent and motivation of the poet in a poetic literature. This article explores the content and meaning imbued with stylist in Robinson Edwin Arlington's 1897 poem; Richard Cory. "Richard Cory" is a poem in sixteen stanzas that narrates the rich, elite and noble, but socially unsatisfying life of a man who bears the name that constitutes the title of the poem. The name Richard Cory derives metaphorically from King Richard I; Richard Coeur de Lion (1157-1199) of England, and is used by the poet as satire to mock the illusory and blissful contentment of the poem's protagonist from society's point of view (Gateway 18). This essay explores the illusory identity of wealth, elitism, and nobility attributed to Richard Cory by his countrymen, and how such illusions operated until his suicide. The poem criticizes society's idealism for wealth, wealth, elitism, and nobility as a source of happiness. The images painted about Richard Cory in the poem are external, superficial, and aesthetic humanizations of society's imagination. Richard Cory is portrayed as a rich, wealthy, elite, noble gentleman who stands noticeably above the public. He's the odd one out in the neighborhood in terms of social class, and he's a lone ranger and an outsider; if not an outcast, in a social class. However, Richard Cory's relationship with his relatively inferior or lower-class country men is not that of a detested interloper, an outsider, an outcast, or a racially discriminated against. Indeed, 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 countrymen, which is complicated from a literal perspective of life. Likewise, Richard Cory's life will remain unfulfilled even in immortality as the spirit that craves social compassion is immortal and irresolute even after death. Works Cited “Bible Gateway.” Bible Door. Np, nd Web. 3 December 2013. ."Richard I Coeur de Lion ("Lionheart") (r.1189-1199)." The British monarchy. Np, nd Web. 3 December 2013. .Roberts, Edgar V. and Robert Zweig. Literature: An introduction to reading and writing. Fifth compact edition ed. Glenview: Pearson, 2012. Print.