end to remind readers that we can never fully understand other people's interior lives.  The poem was written when many in the country were struggling through the aftermath of a severe economic downturn, and though Richard Cory apparently put a brave face on his situation, he carried repressed burdens.

The tone of "Richard Corey" is one of numbed shock and bemused confusion.  Why did this man who had everything take his own life?  He was comfortable financially.  He was well-liked.  He was attractive.  He had everything that people believe will make them happy.

And yet Richard Corey was not happy.  This leaves those who knew him confused.  How could they have known?  What signs did they miss?

The tone brings out an emotional response in readers by reminding them that all people are fighting unseen battles, and we never know who is about to give up the fight.

A few of the word choices Robinson makes in the first stanza work, metaphorically, to compare Richard Cory to a king. The speaker says that Cory is a "gentleman from sole to crown" (line 3) and that he is "imperially slim" (4). Although the word crown can refer to the top of the head, which makes sense in this context, it can also refer to the object a king wears on his head. This might not be significant on its own, but when we see the word imperially on the next line—a word that refers to an attitude that befits or is suggestive of an emperor—the choice of crown, with its two meanings, seems intentional. (The speaker even calls Cory "richer than a king" in line 9.) Connecting these word choices, we gather that Richard Cory is being compared to someone of royal status, in the first stanza, via a metaphor.

In the second stanza, the speaker says that Cory "glittered when he walked" (8). This is another metaphor. A person does not really glitter, and so we can ascertain that he is being compared to something that does: perhaps a diamond or some other valuable, sparkling object. I think of a diamond or another precious gem, in particular, because they are often said to "glitter" and can be found in crowns as well.

The primary literary device at work in the poem is the situational irony that is realized in its conclusion. How ironic that Richard Cory, the one man in town who seemed to have everything necessary for happiness and the one man who was envied above all others, is the one who takes his own life in a shocking and violent way.

Another literary device employed is that of hyperbole: Cory is so well dressed and attractive, he "glitters" when he walks in town. Metaphor is found in the first two lines of the final stanza:

So on we worked, and waited for the light,

     And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;

The "light" for which the common people wait could be interpreted as relief from poverty. Going "without the meat" metaphorically means doing without the better things in life, those things that poor people in the town cannot enjoy. Cursing "the bread" is a metaphor for their resentment, for being discontented with their poverty.

Finally, the poem employs a first-person narrator who is one of the poor in the town who admires Cory, and there is a strong contrast in the last two lines between the "calm summer night" and Cory's violent death as he "put a bullet through his head."

Anaphora: 

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;...

The poetic devices used in "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson include sound devices, repetition devices, rhyme, and rhythm.

The sound devices that stand out are alliteration and consonance. Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds. The predominant initial consonant throughout the poem is /w/. Phrases with words in close proximity that start with /w/ are "whenever Richard Cory went down town" and "still we worked and waited for the light." The repetition of the /w/ sound can evoke the feeling of questioning (what? or why?) or a wail of sorrow or complaint. Another use of alliteration is "we people on the pavement," which repeats the /p/ sound. Consonance, repetition of internal or end consonant sounds, occurs in the words "fluttered" and "glittered." These are light sounding words, adding a sense of grace and ease to the description of Richard Cory.

Anaphora is the technique of repeating the same words at the beginning of successive clauses. We see this used in lines 5 and 6: "And he was always." Other lines also start with "and he" or simply "and." This technique binds the poem together and also gives the feeling that it is being narrated by someone close to the situation speaking in his own words. It also creates a monotony that makes the abrupt ending more surprising.

The poem has a formal rhyme scheme and rhythm. It is written in consistent iambic pentameter, meaning each line consists of ten syllables of alternating unaccented and accented stresses. The effect of this is to make the poem very steady and predictable, making the surprise ending come as more of a shock because the reader has been lulled by the very consistent and regular rhythm. Nothing in the words or their sounds has suggested  that something sudden or violent is going to occur, so the steadiness of the rhythm and meter, along with the regular abab rhyme scheme, forms a  stark, ironic contrast to the surprising ending. 

Word choices that convey a regal or kingly connotation help to characterize Richard Cory or, at least, show readers the way that he is thought of by everyone in his town. He is described as being a gentleman from the soles of his feet to his "crown"—one way to refer to the top of his head—and he is likewise called "imperially slim." Rather than clothed, he is "arrayed," like a monarch might be. He is even said to "glitter" when he walks. Further, he is "richer than a king"—a likely example of overstatement (an exaggeration made to emphasize the truth)—and "schooled in every grace."

Words like crown, imperial, array, glitter, king, and grace are often associated with royalty. They also help to set up a series of expectations from readers, in addition to the other people who seem to know Richard Cory: like them, we expect that he must be happy, or at least contented, satisfied with his charmed life and charming self. However, the news that he simply goes home one calm night and "put[s] a bullet through his head" creates situational irony. Irony is created when what we expect to happen is different from what actually happens, and we would likely not expect a regal person like Richard Cory, a person who seems to have it all, to take his own life. It is this irony that emphasizes one of the poem's main themes: that we never know what another person is going through or what is going on their heads.

Aside from what other educators have offered on the subject of Robinson's techniques, there is enjambment and use of "we" and "the" in unexpected ways.

Enjambment occurs when a poet continues a sentence without pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza.  As line eleven moves to line twelve, Robinson uses no period, comma, em dash, semi-colon or colon to mark a stop or pause. Lines eleven and twelve are the only truly enjambed lines in the poem. 

Robinson makes an unusual choice in having his speaker use "we" as a collective voice that describes Richard Cory and the action of the poem.

In the poem's fourth and final stanza, Robinson uses the particularizing, definite article "the" to modify the light, the meat, and the bread. "The" is the only definite article in the English language, and it is often used to describe something the writer knows the reader is intimately familiar with. Since poetry is essentially condensed language, Robinson's use of the definite article must be deliberate.

"Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson is a "narrative poem." The term "narrative poem" is used to describe a genre of poetry that tells a story. Although the work is formally a poem, in terms of content, it resembles a short story with a first person plural narrator who observes Cory's exterior actions but has no access to Cory's private thoughts or emotions.

In terms of poetic structure, the poem consists of four four-line stanzas. The stanzas are rhymed "ABAB," a form known as "open quatrains." Although this is the same rhyme scheme as is used in "common meter," the lines are iambic pentameter, rather than the alternating tetrameter and trimeter of common meter. Nonetheless, the rhyme scheme produces some of the effect of a ballad, a traditional type of narrative verse. The rhymes are regular masculine rhymes and most of the lines are end-stopped rather than enjambed.

The form of all the lines in the poem is "iambic pentameter." This means that each line consists of five iambic "feet." In other words, the smallest repeated rhythmical unit is an iambic foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, and this pattern is repeated five times (thus "pentameter").

Edward Arlington Robinson's "Richard Cory" is a narrative poem that has an ironic perspective.  In this narrative, Richard Cory is submerged in the fastidious, and, as such, is perceived untruthfully by the people "on the pavement."  For they envision a kingly figure who is "imperially slim, "quietly arrayed," and polite--"and rich, yes richer than a king."  However, the exalted adjectives deceive both those who "curse the bread" and the reader.  For, ironically, Richard Cory leads "a life of quiet desperation" as Thoreau wrote.

While the economic depression of 1893 impoverished people, and they struggled to survive, Richard Cory--albeit wealthy--has his own personal demons with which he struggles.  His wealth has separated him so much from the ordinary people that he cannot converse with anyone.  When he smiles and says "Hello," his greeting goes no further.  The terrible loneliness of Cory may be at the heart of this narrative poem by Edward Arlington Robinson.

In the Edward Arlington Robinson poem "Richard Cory" the tone of the narrator changes during the course of the poem. In the first stanza, the tone is admiring as he describes the physical appearance of Richard Cory.

He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

In the second stanza, there is a tone of surprise at the down to earth nature exemplified by Richard Cory.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked; 

Despite the low key profile of this man, the narrator's still places Richard Cory above the rest of the townspeople.

But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
'Good-morning,' and he glittered when he walked.

And the tone of the narrator becomes one that places even more distance between Cory and the citizens of the town. By using words like "king", and "grace" he sets Cory up as royalty.

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.

In the last stanza, the narrator's tone becomes one of bittered enlightenment. The poor people of the town continue to remain poor even as they work and hope for things to get better.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread; 

And yet his tone of enlightenment occurs  when:

And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head. 

The narrator realizes two things. 1)Richard Cory was not as he appeared to everyone; and 2)Wealth did not necessarily bring happiness.

Enotes has some great resources at the following link.

http://www.enotes.com/richard-cory-salem/richard-cory

Here's 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-favoured 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 in his head.

Henry David Thoreau said "men live lives of quiet desperation."  None more than Richard Cory, it seems, whose suicide is not necessarily a shock to those in the town, but rather a source of morbid fascination and gossip.

The poem appears simple, straightforward, and conventional: there is no metaphor, no simile, no symbolism, no lyric self-expression.

Rather, the key is the speaker's tone: he is a reporter giving us the news.  The poem reads like an obituary.  It confirms what all the townspeople already know, but it seals Cory's death in black and white print for posterity--a detached epitaph for the ages.

The two key poetic devices are irony and humor which relies on the contrast between the image of Cory's stoic exterior  and the violence of his death.  If a longer piece, the poem would be Horatian satire, black comedy.

Critic Ellsworth Barnard says it best:

The first two lines suggest Richard Cory's distinction, his separation from ordinary folk. The second two tell what it is in his natural appearance that sets him off. The next two mention the habitual demeanor that elevates him still more in men's regard: his apparent lack of vanity, his rejection of the eminence that his fellows would accord him. At the beginning of the third stanza, "rich" might seem to be an anticlimax—but not inthe eyes of ordinary Americans; though, as the second line indicates, they would not like to have it thought that in their eyes wealth is everything. The last two lines of the stanza record a total impression of a life that perfectly realizes the dream that most men have of an ideal existence; while the first two lines of the last stanza bring us back with bitter emphasis to the poem's beginning, and the impassable gulf, for most people—but not, they think, for Richard Cory—between dream and fact. Thus the first fourteen lines are a painstaking preparation for the last two, with their stunning overturn of the popular belief.

E. A. Robinson uses numerous poetic devices in his poem, "Richard Cory."  I'll deal with two of them as your question requests.

First, word connotations enhance the poem, beginning with the title and name of the character who serves as the focus, Richard Cory.  The connotations of wealth describing this wealthy character are obvious.  The poem also uses "down town" in the opening line to identify the place at which "We people" usually spotted Richard Cory.  Down town suggests the place Cory goes to dine out, shop, etc., since he went there "Whenever," not necessarily regularly, to work, say.  The people on the "pavement" may be there to work.  Cory is not.

Robinson also uses "gentleman" to describe Cory, and says he was a gentleman from "sole to crown," not from head to foot.  Cory was "imperially slim," not just slim.  The connotations are obvious.

Repetition is also used in the poem.  The repetition of "And he...." provides unity and builds intensity.  The use of rhyme is, also, of course, always a repetition that adds unity to any work.  The use of Richard, rich, and richer also add unity.

Connotations and repetition, then, are two poetic devices used in the poem to enhance the poet's piece. 

As the previous answer stated, metaphor is a major poetic element found in "Richard Cory."  Throughout the metaphor, Richard Cory is compared to a regal king.  Readers are told that he is "richer than a king."  Furthermore the people see him as glittering and "imperially slim."  What's interesting about the metaphor of Cory being compared to kingly wealth is how it also makes a comparison between wealth and loneliness/depression.  Cory's money presumably allows him to do many things, but it can't buy him happiness; therefore, he commits suicide at the poem's conclusion.  

The poem also makes use of anaphora.  Anaphora is a repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of lines. In "Richard Cory," the word "and" is used to start 6 lines.  The poem is only 16 lines to begin with, so that means "and" starts more than 1/3 of the lines in the poem.  The effect is that the poem begins to read like a list.  The narrator tells readers how great the man is, and he just piles on thing after thing that makes Cory so great.  That really helps with the poem's shocking ending.  Cory is so great and amazing, yet he still kills himself.  

As for the poem's structure, "Richard Cory" is a straightforward poem.  It's made up of 4 quatrains, and each quatrain follows an ABAB rhyme scheme.  Each line consists of 10 syllables, and those are broken into 5 iambic feet.  That makes the poem written in iambic pentameter.  An iambic foot is made when an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable.  If we use bold text to indicate a stressed syllable, the first line of the poem reads as follows:

Whenever Richard Cory went down town.

The rhythm and meter is very regular throughout this poem.  Combined with the regular rhyme scheme, the poem sort of lulls readers into familiar territory.  We don't expect anything shocking or different by the poem's end.  Then the narrator finally throws readers off balance with the poem's final line.  

Went home and put a bullet through his head.

It still follows the poem's rhythm and rhyme, but the line's content is a complete shock. 

In Edward Arlington Robinson's poem, "Richard Cory," there is metaphor upon metaphor.  Richard Cory is described with glowing, unstated comparisons, reflective of the fact that he himself has become a metaphor for what he really is.  That is, the "people on the pavement," the seemingly mundane people, have so glorified Richard who is "richer than a king" that he no longer possesses a real identity for them.  Instead, he represents what they cannot attain, and thus envy as they "go without the meat" and "cursed the bread" that in their poverty is all they have to eat.  Cory is regal:  he "glitters when he walks," "a gentleman from sole to crown," and "schooled in every grace."

This lack of true identity has perhaps wrought the distress in Richard Cory that causes his suicide.  And, Richard Cory's situation has much verisimilitude, for in this country the ordinary people--those on the pavement--worship celebrities, thinking that they, like Richard, are "everything to make [them] wish [they] were in his/her place." Thus, in their envy, the public transforms these celebrities into metaphors of themselves.  Not long after this transformation, the media can then joyously report the tragic news that the price of fame has cost them.

William Shakespeare himself wrote about two of the English kings named Richard in his plays.  Richard I (1157-1199), or Richard the Lionhearted, was a great warrior and military strategist, and was noted for his chivalry and courage.  He was part of the Norman rule, and spoke only French, spending very little time in England. Therefore, not only could he not communicate with the English, he had little contact with any of the people of his kingdom. His son, Richard II of England was a tall, handsome, and intelligent man, who had some type of personality disorder as his misrule led to his tragic downfall. Richard III was involved in the War of the Roses, and was slain at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last king to lose his life in battle. 

Certainly, there are several parallels among the kings Richard and Richard Cory.  For, Cory is perceived as distant royalty; like the handsome Richard the Lionhearted who knew no English, Cory, too, is perceived as a gentleman, an aristocrat above those who worked, unable to communicate with common people, the people "on the pavement."  In a similar fashion to Richard II, there is the suggestion that something is wrong with Richard Cory as he seems like the perfect gentleman, but he commits suicide one "calm summer night."

Of course, the last name, Corey, is of Irish derivation, suggesting then that the regal Richard, suggestive of English kings is not what he seems to be.  Since there is no surname of Cory, actually, but only Corey, the suggestion here is that Richard Cory is anything but "everything/To make us wish that we were in his place."  Indeed, the name of Richard Cory connotes the wrong characteristics for the tragic man of a lonely and disturbed existence whom no one understands

The trick of the poem "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson is the interplay between what is seen of Richard Cory on the outside, and what he is truly on the inside. The title is the clue to the theme of the whole poem: Richard is a king's name. Cory, implies the core, the heart, the true, hidden inner self of the man.

The poem describes Richard Cory as someone to be looked up to and admired by the common people, the "people on the pavement." He is delineated by words that shine: gentleman, crown, imperially, arrayed, glittered, rich, king, admirably schooled, grace.

The reader of the poem, then is set up, like the people in the town where Richard Cory lived, to believe that the man was of uncommon elegance, advancement and privilege. And so when the ending comes, we are shocked, not just by its violent abruptness, but by how mislead we were by the external appearance of the man.

"Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson tells a man's life story in sixteen lines.  The narrator is a citizen of the town that the protagonist or Richard Cory lives. 

The narrator's point of view is limited because he is only able to observe the outward look of the main character.  He does not appear to know him personally.  Therefore, he knows nothing of the man's mind or thoughts. 

Following a  pattern, the poem has four stanzas which use a set rhyme scheme: ABAB in every quatrain. Using this minimal amount of lines to tell the story, demands carefully chosen words. The vocabulary choice is simple, yet the words interestingly describe the main character. 

The emphasis on the superiority of the Cory is well portrayed by the ending words of the first two stanzas: crown, slim, arrayed, talked and walked. It is the descriptive words that come before that add the flavor to the poem.  

The primary metaphor in the poem is the comparison of Cory to a king:

He was a gentleman from sole to crown,

Clean favored, and imperially slim.

From the top of his head to the sole of his foot, he resembles what the narrator thinks a king might appear.  

The poem is ironic from beginning to end.  Here is a man supremely admired by everyone in this town. He seems to have everything, and in the end, kills himself. That is irony. 

The problem is that no one takes the time to get to know the man.  He comes to town, well-dressed and almost blindingly handsome.  The women get shaky knees when he doffs his hat and speaks to them. 

An odd comparison is made between the first two stanzas views of Cory. Initially he is described as looking like a king, well-dressed and handsome. Cory comes downtown to mingle with the other people.  One wonders if they accepted his invitation for conversation.  

In the second stanza, the poet describes him as quietly dressedand human, especially when he talked to the other citizens.  However, did they engage with him?  Was he so alone and misunderstood that he took his own life? Robinson leaves the reader to wonder about the lack of human connection that Cory wanted but did not receive from his neighbors.

It appears that their lives included envy and little involvement in the life of Cory.  But as the poet states, the other people were busy with their own problems: hoping for something better, working hard, barely eating, and cursing their own predicaments. 

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread:

What does this man that everyone jealously admires do? He kills himself. The poet, with a clear understanding of life, shows the reader only what the reader would learn if this were reality.  No one knows what was in the mind of Richard Cory.

"Richard Cory," a ballad by Edwin Arlington Robinson, tells the story of a rich man who committed suicide. It uses some literary devices that are common in short or long fiction, including first person point of view, foils, figurative language, and irony.

The narration of the story comes from "we," an unnamed individual who groups himself in with the poor people of the town where Richard Cory lives. The effect of first person narration is to give the reader a limited perspective. We can only see and know what the narrator sees and knows; we cannot get inside the head of Richard Cory. Thus the ending comes as a complete surprise.

A foil is a literary device that uses characters that contrast sharply with each other. The contrast makes the qualities of each character more prominent. In this case, the townspeople are foils for Richard Cory, and vice versa. The opulent wealth of Richard Cory, his clothing, his manners, and his looks--all these stand in contrast to the "regular" people in the town who live in poverty, do not dress well, don't have the best manners, and are not so handsome. Richard Cory seems to have not a care in the world, while the other townspeople toil endlessly and can only hope for "light" in the future. Richard Cory's wealth highlights the poverty of the other people, and the poverty of the others makes his wealth all the more obvious.

The author uses figurative language when he compares Richard Cory to a king, and he uses the word "light" to represent hope or better fortune in the future.

Irony means that situations turn out the opposite of what one might expect. A twist or surprise ending is ironic. In this poem, when Richard Cory kills himself with no apparent warning, it is ironic because he seemed to have everything a man could want. If anyone would have been expected to commit suicide, it would have been one of the poor residents of the town who "worked and waited for the light." The unexpected ending is what makes this poem so powerful and memorable.