Edwin Arlington Robinson was a prominent American poet who lived from 1869 to 1935. His poetry is characterized by its intense emotional depth and its focus on the complexities of human relationships.
One of Robinson's most famous poems is "Richard Cory," which tells the story of a wealthy, handsome, and well-respected man who appears to have it all, but ultimately takes his own life. The poem's haunting refrain of "We thought that he was everything / To make us wish that we were in his place" speaks to the societal pressure to strive for success and to present a polished exterior to the world, even at the expense of one's own well-being.
Another notable poem by Robinson is "Miniver Cheevy," which tells the story of a man who is disillusioned with his own life and feels envious of the achievements of others. The poem's titular character is a melancholic figure who longs for the chivalric ideals of a bygone era and feels that he has missed out on the opportunity to live a heroic and fulfilling life.
Robinson's poetry often grapples with themes of loss and disappointment, as well as the enduring human desire for connection and meaning. In "The House on the Hill," he writes about the passing of time and the changes it brings, as the once-grand house on the hill becomes abandoned and forgotten.
One of the most poignant lines in this poem is "They are all gone away, / The House is shut and still, / There is nothing more to say." This line speaks to the finality of death and the sense of loss that comes with it, but also to the enduring memories that remain long after a person or place has passed on.
Overall, Edwin Arlington Robinson's poetry is marked by its emotional depth and its ability to capture the complexities of the human experience. Whether he is writing about the pressure to succeed or the bittersweet passage of time, Robinson's words continue to resonate with readers today.
Richard Cory by Edwin Arlington Robinson
None of these characters, as Robinson presents them, is an example of obedience to God. Consequently Barak finds himself in a dilemma. The poem ends with Gideon approaching the threshing floor on that second morning, fearing, for the first time, that the previous sign could have been an illusion, and he will have to find in himself the confidence to lead his people into a risky battle. But after nineteen hundred years the shame Still clings, and we have not made good the loss That outraged faith has entered in his name. There is ruin and decay In the House on the Hill: They are all gone away, There is nothing more to say.
They are all gone away, And our poor fancy-play For them is wasted skill: There is nothing more to say. He tried farming and developed a close relationship with his brother's wife Emma Robinson, who after her husband Herman's death moved back to Gardiner with her children. Medici: rulers of Renaissance Florence known for both a love of scholarship and art, and a penchant for a pitiless use of power. Children that I leave behind, And their children, all were kind; Near to them and to my wife, I was happy all my life. Afterthoughts We parted where the old gas-lamp still burned Under the wayside maple and walked on, Into the dark, as we had always done; And I, no doubt, if he had not returned, Might yet be unaware that he had earned More than earth gives to many who have won More than it has to give when they are gone— As duly and indelibly I learned. We will have to find our faith within ourselves, not expect God to provide it through a life-changing event. Then she kills him by driving a tent peg through his temple, all the while imagining the honor she will receive.
The Best of Edwin Arlington Robinson: A Collection of 2 Powerful Poems
His brother Dean died of a drug overdose. What Lazarus actually learned, or is beginning to realize, is that human death and human life are equally nothing apart from God. But then, what though the mystic Three Around me ply their merry trade? Yes, you scan to-day, With uncommiserating glee, The songs of one who strove to play The broken flutes of Arcady. Jesus has shown that the Law no longer sustains the people; now it is a source of sin. Robinson described his childhood as stark and unhappy; he once wrote in a letter to Amy Lowell that he remembered wondering why he had been born at the age of six. Why did Jesus weep when he saw the neighbors mourning? A Happy Man When these graven lines you see, Traveller, do not pity me; Though I be among the dead, Let no mournful word be said. He comes unfailing for the loan We give and then forget; He comes, and probably for years Will he be coming yet,— Familiar as an old mistake, And futile as regret.
The meeting is mentioned in Acts 28:15, which Robinson quotes as an epigraph. If we resign our free will in order to keep the Law, have we not defeated the purpose for which we were created? The poem opens and closes with greetings, and includes comments on the spiritual state of the Roman Christians. The morning stars are singing still, To crown, to challenge, and to kill; And if perforce there falls a voice On pious ears that have no choice Except to urge an erring hand To wreak its homage on the land, Who of us that is worth his while Will, if he listen, more than smile? To Paul, before his conversion, such an idea was incredible. Robinson had returned to Gardiner by mid-1893. Supremacy There is a drear and lonely tract of hell From all the common gloom removed afar: A flat, sad land it is, where shadows are, Whose lorn estate my verse may never tell. He moved to New York, where he led a precarious existence as an impoverished poet while cultivating friendships with other writers, artists, and would-be intellectuals.
Composition date is unknown - the above date represents the first publication date. Killing Sisera in his sleep was treacherous and unnecessary. Ballad of Broken Flutes In dreams I crossed a barren land, A land of ruin, far away; Around me hung on every hand A deathful stillness of decay; And silent, as in bleak dismay That song should thus forsaken be, On that forgotten ground there lay The broken flutes of Arcady. In the biblical poems Robinson reinterprets the stories and challenges the conclusions that generations have taken from them. The prodigal smoothly demonstrates to his brother that his adventure is a blessing. Why is it then we stray Around the sunken sill? Miniver Cheevy, born too late, Scratched his head and kept on thinking; Miniver coughed, and called it fate, And kept on drinking.
Or, to put it another way, faith is what allows us to act both freely and righteously. He had plans to start writing seriously. The Old Testament figures and the one in the parable in Luke claim to have personal revelations, but their interpretations turn out to be faulty or self-serving. Wisdom, Love, and Faith Robinson wrote these poems at a time of tremendous social and economic change in the United States. Robinson's literary career had false-started.
Rather say No songs are ended that are ever sung, And that no names are dead names. Biography Robinson was born in Head Tide, Lincoln County, Maine, but his family moved to Gardiner, Maine, in 1870. I feel that I have got comparatively little from my two years, but still, more than I could get in Gardiner if I lived a century. His real desire was to get published in one of the Harvard literary journals. There is no reason for Lazarus to be glad to return to ordinary human life because human life without God is worse than human death. Hendricks teaches English at Stevenson University in Maryland. The grace, divine, definitive, Clings only as a faint forestalling; The laugh that love could not forgive Is hushed, and answers to no calling; The forehead and the little ears Have gone where Saturn keeps the years; The breast where roses could not live Has done with rising and with falling.
The House on the Hill by Edwin Arlington Robinson Poetry Foundation agenda angle-down angle-left angleRight arrow-down arrowRight bars calendar caret-down cart children highlight learningResources list mapMarker openBook p1 pin poetry-magazine print quoteLeft quoteRight slideshow tagAudio tagVideo teens trash-o. Bewick Finzer Time was when his half million drew The breath of six per cent; But soon the worm of what-was-not Fed hard on his content; And something crumbled in his brain When his half million went. Unable to make a living by writing, he got a job as an inspector for the New York City subway system. Miniver Cheevy He would have sinned incessantly Could he have been one. Robinson privately printed and released his first volume of poetry, The Torrent and the Night Before, in 1896 at his own expense; this collection was extensively revised and published in 1897 as The Children of the Night. Our capacity for love, then, is the measure of the depth of our faith and the breadth of our hope, and the scale by which we should judge our actions. Lazarus and Mary realize in the course of the poem that in raising Lazarus Jesus brought something new into the world; he changed the rules, so to speak.
Both works frequently use paradoxes and rhetorical questions. Far out beyond the forest I could hear The calling of loud progress, and the bold Incessant scream of commerce ringing clear; But though the trumpets of the world were glad, It made me lonely and it made me sad To think that Amaryllis had grown old. The Law, however, is a stumbling block because it leads those who depend on it into the sins of pride and hypocrisy. Priam: king of Troy, father of Aeneus founder of Rome and killed in the seven years' war with the Greek at Troy. Nicodemus has just come from talking to Jesus, evidently not for the first time.
