On the other hand Richard Cory is not in the form of a sonnet. Richard Cory is more like a nursery rhyme which lures the reader into a false sense of security. Both poems begin with presentations of their central character. The titles in particular appear to serve a similar purpose. Both "Ozymandias" and "Richard Cory" imply that the character is noble but both are very vague. They both could be capable of more than one indication, as well they provoke a sense of intrigue. At the start of each poem there is rhyme on alternate lines. In both poems the narrator clearly sets the scene "Stand in the desert" and "went down town.".
The two poems open in very different ways. The start of Richard Cory starts with a lot of royal imagery "sole to crown, imperially." "We" is used in the first stanza of Richard Cory which shows how he is above these people as these person is representing a whole group of people who admire Richard Cory. At the start of Ozymandias, it is the only time Shelley talks in the poem and in the one that one sentence it illustrates that England was clearly at the heart of the world during this time. The rest of the beginning of the poem is narrated by a nameless traveller. This in itself empathises a story from a distant land. As the poems progress, the identity of the main character is explored in greater depth. In both of the poems they clearly illustrate the extent of the main characters impact on people. In Richard Cory "To make us wish that we were in his place," this empathises how much that people downtown admire Richard Cory. It again empathises his class in society. This is like Ozymandias, "sneer of cold command," clearly shows that in his day the character has influenced others' lives just like Richard Cory.
Shelley's poem differs significantly from Robinson's in how he broadens his exploration to take in ideas about the lasting value of art.