How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
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. (1-4)
When the poem begins, there's a real distinction between Richard Cory and the "we" who speak the poem. Cory is a total gentleman, while the "we" are the "people on the pavement" (i.e., lower class peeps, walking down the street) who look up to him.
Quote #2
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. (5-12)
Everyone thought Richard Cory was quite literally "everything." Even though their only contact with him is an occasional "good morning," the "we" of the poem think they know everything about ol' R.C. They wish that they were him. After all, dude's got a pretty sweet life, or so it seems.
Quote #3
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. (13-16)
But of course things aren't always as they seem. The townsfolk work hard and they don't have enough meat to eat, but they are still a "we." They are united in a community—unlike perpetual outsider Richard Cory, who is admired by the people on the pavement, but who is not one of them. Was this isolation from his community the reason for his suicide? We can't know for sure, but we gotta admit, it's a pretty tempting interpretation.