[John Riley]

I had a professor for the general intro to American lit class who had done his dissertation on Robinson. I remember thinking he was never going to move on. Didn’t Simon and Garfunkel do a version of “Richard Cory.” Apparently, Teddy Roosevelt liked his poems and gave him a govt. job if I remember correctly. Tedious stuff.

[R. Nemo Hill]

I adore him.

[John Isbell]

I for my part am quite partial to Edgar Lee Masters:

Hod Putt

HERE I lie close to the grave
Of Old Bill Piersol,
Who grew rich trading with the indians, and who
Afterwards took the bankrupt law
And emergeed from it richer than ever.
Myself grown tired of toil and poverty
And beholding how Old Bill and others grew in wealth,
Robbed a traveler one night near Proctor's Grove,
Killing him unwittingly while doing so,
For the which I was tried and hanged.
That was my way of going into bankruptcy.
Now we who took the bankrupt law in our respective ways
Sleep peacefully side by side.

[RCL]

I should add that I do like Robinson and after reading some of his portraits, wrote my first poem on Thoreau, a sonnet. Of course, I can also make a case for the brilliantly expressed existential angst in "The House on the Hill" and amply amplified in his work. Things that are said while waiting for Godot. Inquiring minds love a house symbol. Poe's for one. Thoreau's for another. Frost has a hand in.

[John Isbell]

My sister was certainly fond of the poem "Richard Cory" in her teen years.

[James Brancheau]

The repetition of nothing more to say is absolutely brilliant, imo. I should read more of him.

[John Isbell]

Thanks, James, for that substantive reason to like the piece! Across the ledger, I’ll add that to speak them good or ill is not English. And the tone reminds me unerringly of my high school years.

Cheers,
John