A short lyric poem by Robert Frost about the transience of nature and life. Learn about its theme, form, reception, musical adaptations, and popular culture references. Copyright Credit: Robert Frost, "Nothing GoldCanStay" from New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1923. Public Domain. Robert Frost 1874 – 1963 Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing goldcanstay. From The Poetry of Robert Fros t edited by Edward Connery Lathem. “Nothing Gold Can Stay” is about the fleeting nature of beauty, youth, and life itself. According to the poem, nothing “gold”—essentially nothing pure, precious, or beautiful—can last forever. The poem begins by focusing on changes in the natural world. ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’ is an example of how Robert Frost used common American and rural imageryto discuss complex topics. There are no words in this piece with more than three syllables, for instance. Even the rhyme scheme is simplistic. The rhymes come at the end of each line in couplets, following a pattern: aa, bb, cc, dd.See full list on poemanalysis.comThe central theme of this poem focuses on the idea of nature’s most beautiful elements as the briefest and most important. The poem uses a metaphor of the early leaves of spring changing in order to demonstrate this. The poet also reflects on how the most perfect moments or things cannot be preserved forever.See full list on poemanalysis.comIn this poem, the poet uses a few different literary devices. These include: 1. Alliteration: This can be seen when the poet repeatsthe same consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words. For example, “green” and “gold” in line one. 2. Metaphor: This poem is a metaphor for the changing nature of beauty. The green of nature is immediately compa...See full list on poemanalysis.comLine 1‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’begins with a simple statement. I believe that ‘Nature’s first green’ refers to spring. The poet is saying that the commonly accepted beauty of the first buds of green shooting up after a long winter is worth as much as gold. It is a fleeting beauty; the seasons will inevitably march on. The soft beauty of spring soon fades to summer and beyond.Line 2“Her” refers to nature, often personifiedas a woman or mother. The “hue” is of course, “green,” as explained in the first line. The second explains that the green of spring cannot last. In summer, the fields dry to brown. In fall, the leaves wither, change colors, and fall to earth. In winter, life is buried under a sea of white. It is impossible to keep a plant green forever, as any gardener knows.Line 3This line of ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’is both a statement of fact and a metaphor. Obviously, in spring, the trees will bud and flower before growing back their leaves. In that literal respect, the statement is completely accurate. Metaphorically, the writer is saying that the earliest leaves are as beautiful as a flower. In other words, spring itself is lovely as a flower.See full list on poemanalysis.comFrost is one of the most famous and honored poets in American history. He often employed scenes from rural New England in his poems, using them to discuss complex philosophical topics. In ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’, for instance, the poet uses the shifting of the seasons to comment on the fleeting nature of life and beauty. The poem was first publishe...See full list on poemanalysis.com "Nothing GoldCanStay" by Robert Frost (1923) is in the public domain. Unless otherwise noted, this content is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. · Learn about the theme, structure and imagery of Frost's short poem that explores the impermanence of beauty. Read the full text, translation and citation of Nothing Gold Can Stay on Poetry.com. "Nothing GoldCanStay" by Robert Frost (1923) is in the public domain. Unless otherwise noted, this content is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. · Learn about the theme, structure and imagery of Frost's short poem that explores the impermanence of beauty. Read the full text, translation and citation of Nothing Gold Can Stay on Poetry.com.
