They say that Richard Cory owned one half of this old town and Teddy Roosevelt sued him under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act

If you’ve been watching Ken Burns’ The Roosevelts on PBS, you now know, if you didn’t already, and I didn’t, that Edward Arlington Robinson was Theodore Roosevelt’s favorite poet. Since TR loved to memorize and recite poetry, he must have had Robinson’s poems ready to to roar at the drop of a straw hat. I would love it if a recording of him reciting “Miniver Cheevy” turned up.  Even better, this one:

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—yes, 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.

Of course, in heaven we’ll get to hear him sing the Simon and Garfunkel version.

Comments

[El Jefe]

Robinson is one of our most underrated poets, not because people do nt read him, they certainly do, but not enough of then give his understanding of people -- expressed with cold steel and a reserved but genuine compassion -- its full due. Like you I wonder what Teddy made of Miniver -- I'm sure he knew a few of him in the Ivy League of later Victoriana. And "as he assailed the seasons", besides being one of the great phrases in American verse, is as good an epitaph for TR's way of living as any we've got.

Also one of the most underrated S&G songs there; sure the communicant know it but not enough other folks do.

[El Jefe]

And in reference to your title: Teddy was a Progressive (though not always a progressive) because, aside from environmentalism, he understood the tendency of capitalism to lapse into feudalism and the essential, constant need to nip that crap in the bud.

[Falstaff]

Wonderful post. Wonderful.

And as regards biographies of T. Roosevelt (who, as you surely know, was never "Teddy" to those who knew him well; he was "Teedy" to his family when he was young, and either "T.R." or "Colonel" to his intimates in later life), may I recommend my favorite of the lot? H.W. Brands's T.R.: The Last Romantic fascinated me from the very first, and I think it's the finest biography of the man.

[El Jefe]

Falstaff,

Good point. I'm a fan of Brands myself -- and he's now at my old grad school -- and that is indeed a fine study. Also loved his Grant bio, which may actually be his most academically important work (rehabilitating Grant was a long time overdue), but the TR bio may be me favorite too.

Lance,

That wasn't by chance a Smothers hiding in the background by the standing bass, was it?