More Irony

Today we reviewed the concept of irony with a warm-up examing Robinson's poem, "Richard Cory" (below).  We wrapped up the period with an open-ended discussion of Medea and added the term "allusion" to the notes.
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In the poem to the right, by Edwin Arlington Robinson, relies much on irony. What type of irony is featured here and how does it affect your reading of the poem?



Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.



And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.


And he was rich, richer than a king—
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.


So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.