Both poems describe situations in which the outward appearance is all that people seem to judge. In "Richard Cory," the best example of this skewed vision of reality is the last stanza: .
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).
Richard Cory is supposed to be the man in the town that has everything that everyone else wants. All of this material possession would, of course, then make him the happiest person in the town, but, as shown by the above quote, your outward appearance doesn't fully describe who you are. The best depiction of this theme in "Provide, Provide" also comes in the last stanza: "Better to go down dignified / With boughten friendship at your side / Than none at all. Provide, provide! (19-21). I interpret this quote to mean that as long as you die with people by your side, you are dying dignified, even if those next to you are not truly your friends. This again shows the outward appearance theme because as long as you look like you were well-liked when you died, you therefore must have been.
The next similarity of these two poems is that they both have a structured meter and rhyme scheme. Frost uses iambic tetrameter for his poem whereas Robinson uses iambic pentameter, but both poets keep to their chosen meter throughout their poems. Along with keeping to their meters, both Frost and Robinson keep to their chosen rhyme schemes. In "Provide, Provide," the rhyme scheme is AAA BBB CCC etc, and in "Richard Cory" the rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD etc. I think that the use of a structured rhyme scheme helps both poets portray the theme. Both poets use their rhyme scheme and meter to create a feeling in the presentation of the theme, whether it cynical as in "Provide, Provide" or depressing as in "Richard Cory." A perfectly structured poem solidifies the importance of the feeling it creates.
