Richard Corey & Miniver Cheevy

"Richard Corey" is a poem about a man who everyone envies (Robinson). Everyone who sees him thinks that Richard Corey has everything in his life together. They see that he is rich and has everything he needs and that he is happy and cheerful. Everyone frets about how they will find enough to eat and they go without meat, and all wish they could be like Richard Corey so they could be happy. Then one night, Richard Corey shoots himself (Robinson). Miniver Cheevy is about a guy who wishes he was not born in the era that he was born in (E.A. Robinson). He constantly is reminiscing in the past and thinks about and studies everything from that time period. He is not happy about being where he is, so he does not focus on now. He focuses everything in the past. And with his life now, all he does is drinks (E.A. Robinson). It is interesting that I am supposed to compare these two poems to Emerson and Thoreau. It is interesting because the two men described in these poems are quite the opposite of Emerson and Thoreau. Instead of reminiscing on the past, they study the past and learn from the past so that they can do better in the present and the future (Thoreau) (Wayne). Emerson and Thoreau did not wish they were not who they were and where they were, not because they were perfect, but because they were working hard to seek the truth rather than waste time worrying about what they could not change. Instead of giving up on life, Emerson and Thoreau seek the truth about life so that they can live it to its fullest. Emerson says "You think me the child of my circumstances. I make my circumstances. Let any thought or motive of mine be different from what they are, the difference will transform my condition. You call it the power of circumstance. But it is the power of me!" (The three Fund...). Emerson did not conform to his circumstances like Corey and Cheevy. He instead transformed himself to who he needed to be. He was not passive, but instead sought to be a great man (The Three Fund...).

"45. Richard Corey. Edwin Arlington Robinson. Modern American Poetry." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Web. 08 Mar. 2012. .

""Miniver Cheevy" by E.A. Robinson." The Poem Tree: An Online Poetry Anthology. Web. 08 Mar. 2012. .

"The Three Fundamental Concepts of Emerson's Philosophy (3 of 7)."WisdomWorld.org Web Site (Main Page). Web. 08 Mar. 2012.

"Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - with Annotated Text." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 26 Jan. 2012.

Wayne, Tiffany K., ed. "Emerson, Ralph Waldo." Critical Companion to Ralph Waldo Emerson: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2010.Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCRWE0001&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 9, 2012).