
Robert Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nothing Gold Can Stay
"Nothing Gold Can Stay" is a poem by Robert Frost, written in 1923, and published in The Yale Review in October of that year. It was later published in the collection New Hampshire that earned Frost the 1924 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. New Hampshire also included Frost's poems "Fire and Ice" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening".
The Outsiders
The Outsiders is a coming-of-age novel by S. E. Hinton, first published in 1967 by Viking Press. Hinton was 15 when she started writing the novel but did most of the work when she was 16 and a junior in high school. Hinton was 18 when the book was published. The book details the conflict bet…
Full Answer
What is nothing gold can stay by Robert Frost about?
The poem, ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’, by Robert Frost, is about the impermanence of life. It describes the fleeting nature of beauty by discussing time’s effect on nature.
What literary devices are used in nothing gold can stay?
This short poem uses a number of literary devices including paradox, juxtaposition, personification, and allusion to convey its themes. Frost uses the four seasons as an image of the cycles of life and death. 'Nothing Gold Can Stay' is a short poem written by Robert Frost. The poem deals with the idea of impermanence, life and death.
What does'gold'mean in the poem Frost?
But here, by 'gold' Frost means good, perfect, and special. This line is a good example of a paradox, or a statement that is seemingly impossible, but is actually true. In this case, it is true if you understand that 'gold' is a symbol.
Can nothing good last forever Frost?
Her hardest hue to hold. But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. Nothing gold can stay. In this poem, Frost explains that nothing, especially that which is perfect and beautiful, can last forever. He gives several examples of this: These are all different ways of saying the same thing: nothing good can last.

When did Robert Frost write Nothing Gold Can Stay?
“Nothing Gold Can Stay” first appeared in Frost's 1923 volume, New Hampshire, his first book to win a Pulitzer Prize.
What type of poem is Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost?
A QuestionRobert FrostFire and IceRobert FrostWe Real CoolGwendolyn BrooksAll You Who Sleep TonightVikram SethStopping by Woods on a Snowy Ev...Robert FrostMending WallRobert FrostNothing Gold Can Stay/People also search for
What is theme of the poem?
The theme of a poem is the message an author wants to communicate through the piece. The theme differs from the main idea because the main idea describes what the text is mostly about. Supporting details in a text can help lead a reader to the main idea.
What does the saying Nothing Gold Can Stay mean?
One line in the poem reads, “Nothing gold can stay,” meaning that all good things must come to an end. By the end of the novel, the boys apply this idea to youthful innocence, believing that they cannot remain forever unsullied by the harsh realities of life. Here, Johnny urges Ponyboy to remain gold, or innocent.
What is the format of Nothing Gold Can Stay?
“Nothing Gold Can Stay” has a very simple rhyme scheme: AA-BB-CC-DD.
Is Nothing Gold Can Stay a dramatic poem?
'Nothing Gold Can Stay' is a famous short narrative poem about nature and its transience. The poem was published in Robert Frost's collection New Hampshire in 1923. The poem also illustrates that change is indispensable and all change involves degeneration.
What is the tone of Nothing Gold Can Stay?
Shifts: At "But only so an hour." the tone of the poem goes into a sad tone, like it's sad to see the gold go away. Title: It goes from talking about nature to realizing the underlying meaning that nothing life can stay. Theme: Enjoy things while they last and while you have them.
What is the theme of Nothing Gold Can Stay quizlet?
It shows the theme that beauty does not last in nature but will wither away, Eden was a paradise and dawn is a beautiful sight and it says they sank away. These lines are followed by the last line and title of the poem: Nothing gold can stay.
How long did Frost write "Nothing Gold Can Stay"?
Frost worked on "Nothing Gold Can Stay" for three years , from 1920-1923, and wrote six versions of the poem in total. Frost was writing in the early 20th century during the modernist literary period, a time when many writers aimed to disrupt stiff, traditional poetic structures and forms.
When was Nothing Gold Can Stay published?
Literary Context. "Nothing Gold Can Stay" was published in Frost's fifth poetry collection, New Hampshire, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1924. The collection contains some of Frost's best known poems, such as " Fire and Ice " and " Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening .". Frost worked on "Nothing Gold Can Stay" for three years, from 1920-1923, ...
What is the metaphor for "Nothing Gold Can Stay"?
"Nothing Gold Can Stay," written when Frost was 48, is no exception, using the metaphor of spring's ending to examine the transience of youth, beauty, and ultimately life itself.
What is the first line in Nature's Green?
Nature's first green is gold, And the next is in line 8: Nothing gold can stay. Both lines open with a trochee, which is the opposite of an iamb. Where an iamb goes da DUM, a trochee is stressed - unstressed, or DUM da. In the first line " Nature " is trochaic, and in the last " Nothing .".
What is the lesson of Robert Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay"?
Robert Frost's 1923 poem 'Nothing Gold Can Stay' explores the idea that nothing good or precious can last forever by using nature and The Garden of Eden as metaphors for cycles of life and death and the loss of innocence.
What does "nothing gold can stay" mean?
Meaning of 'Nothing Gold Can Stay'. Even though 'Nothing Gold Can Stay' by Robert Frost is only eight lines long and seems simple, several readings of the poem can help unearth its deeper meaning. Here is the full text of the poem for your reference: Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower;
What does Frost use in his poem?
Frost uses paradox, juxtaposition, and personification in the poem to emphasize his messages.
What does the first green in the poem mean?
The first line of the poem is 'Nature's first green is gold, ' which, taken literally, can be a bit confusing. How can green literally be gold? They're two different colors! But here, by 'gold' Frost means good, perfect, and special. This line is a good example of a paradox, or a statement that is seemingly impossible, but is actually true. In this case, it is true if you understand that 'gold' is a symbol. Frost is saying that the first green of spring is extremely beautiful and precious.
What does Frost say about the early leaf?
So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day, Nothing gold can stay. In this poem, Frost explains that nothing, especially that which is perfect and beautiful, can last forever.
What happens to the flowers in the poem "Spring Flowers Will Die"?
Spring flowers will die, children will grow up and lose their innocence, and all people will eventually die, too. This may seem depressing, but there is a silver (or gold) lining to be found in this poem. Frost uses examples of things that are cyclical: Spring flowers may die, but they will bloom again next year.
What is Frost's use of the seasons?
Frost uses the four seasons as an image of the cycles of life and death.
When was "Nothing Gold Can Stay" written?
Nothing gold can stay. " Nothing Gold Can Stay " is a short poem by Robert Frost, written in 1923 and published in The Yale Review in October of that year. It was later published in the collection New Hampshire (1923), which earned Frost the 1924 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. The poem lapsed into public domain in 2019.
Who wrote "Nothing Gold Can Stay"?
But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. " Nothing Gold Can Stay " is a short poem by Robert Frost, written in 1923 and published in The Yale Review in October of that year.
What manga has the title "Don't Stay Gold"?
Two Japanese manga take their titles from the poem: "Don't Stay Gold" (a prequel to Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai) by Yoneda Kou (drap, May 2008), and "Stay Gold" by hideyoshico (ongoing in Gateau magazine; first volume Shodensha, 2012). The title and part of the poem is featured in the book The Fault in Our Stars by John Green by Hazel ...
Who recited the poem "The Outsiders"?
The poem is featured in the 1967 novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton and the 1983 film adaptation, recited aloud by the character Ponyboy to his friend Johnny. In a subsequent scene, Johnny quotes a stanza from the poem back to Ponyboy by means of a letter read after he passes away.
Who wrote the poem "The Fault in Our Stars"?
The title and part of the poem is featured in the book The Fault in Our Stars by John Green by Hazel after her boyfriend Augustus dies.
Who said "perfectly limpid toneless assertion"?
In 1984, William H. Pritchard called the poem's "perfectly limpid, toneless assertion" an example of Frost demonstrating how "his excellence extended also to the shortest of figures", and fitting Frost's "later definition of poetry as a momentary stay against confusion.".
Who wrote "Perhaps no single poem more fully embodies the ambiguous balance between paradisiac?
Alfred R. Ferguson wrote of the poem, "Perhaps no single poem more fully embodies the ambiguous balance between paradisiac good and the paradoxically more fruitful human good than 'Nothing Gold Can Stay,' a poem in which the metaphors of Eden and the Fall cohere with the idea of felix culpa ."
What does Robert Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" mean?
In Robert Frost's poem 'Nothing Gold Can Stay', he describes the transient nature of the beautiful and the innocent. It reads: '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.
What is the theme of the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay"?
His use of the poem extends the theme that everything good will be lost, that innocence and beauty are transient in nature, and that time will taint all.
What is the connection between the sunrise and their childhood innocence fading?
The direct connection between the sunrise fading and their childhood innocence fading is an example of metaphor, or a comparison between two seemingly unrelated things. Hinton uses the Frost poem as an allegory, or extended metaphor, for the childhoods of Ponyboy and Johnny, possibly even for all of the Greasers, and how their innocence cannot last.
What does Frost say about nature's first green?
So Eden sank to grief, so dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. '. By expressing that 'Nature's first green is gold, ' Frost is saying that the first moments of growth, when nature is at its greenest, is nature at its finest. Think of spring and how lush the blossoms are.
What poem does Ponyboy read when Johnny and Ponyboy see the sunrise?
When Johnny and Ponyboy see this beautiful sunrise in the middle of their turmoil, Ponyboy is so moved by the sight that he recites Frost's poem, 'Nothing Gold Can Stay. '. This is striking for several reasons.
How to write a poem about the gold?
1) Think about the main metaphor contained in Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay." As you learned in the lesson, this metaphor says that the best things in life (the gold) generally fade or cease to be. Think about another novel besides The Outsiders to which you might apply this metaphor. Another way to approach this assignment might be to think of a story in which something (or someone) loved and depended on by the protagonist abandons or goes away from that person. Write a brief essay explaining how Frost's metaphor fits the story you've chosen.
What is the hardest hue to hold?
The blossom of spring truly is nature's 'hardest hue to hold. '. Summer, fall, and winter will all come, but nothing can be captured for long; and with the change of seasons, there is a loss that Frost's poem captures deeply. Eden loses its innocence and 'subsides to grief ' as the 'dawn goes down to the day.
What is nothing gold can stay?
On a first reading, Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay” seems to be a lamentation. After all, it narrates the short-lived experience of Spring’s first moments. However, it is a poem focused on consummation, and its speaker is determined not to let the passage of time take Spring’s golden green away from him, even as sun sets on the day. He wants to hold on to this hour, to stretch it out as far as he can, even though he knows Time, the enemy, will win out in the end. If we scan the poem, we see more closely what Frost is doing. As noted earlier, it is written in iambic trimeter, meaning that the poem is accentual-syllabic verse with three beats per line. Poets write in a manner that imitates regular speech, and so a typical iambic trimeter line should sound like dah DUM dah DUM dah DUM. When poets violate this rhythm, they do so always with the intention of communicating a point through the variation in stresses. They call attention to certain words and phrases to aid the reader in interpreting a poem, and these stresses are heard, not read. The four fundamental feet are as follows:
What is the spondee in the first line of Frost's poem?
The spondee in the first line ( first green) emphasizes the most important idea of the poem. These two stresses slow down the line, forcing the reader to linger over “first green.” The whole point of the poem is to hold onto the experience of this moment for as long as possible. Subjected to time, the “gold” of “first green” cannot last. The two elisions (the contraction for “leaf is” into “leaf’s,” and truncating “flower” into one syllable) enact the relentless nature of time, which shortens—and ultimately ends—all events and experiences. In eliding “hour,” Frost shows us that even a slow and conscious appreciation of the first green of Spring is a fleeting observation at best, and never an actual prolongation. The last four lines of the poem, which allude to the loss of Eden, emphasize the Garden’s inevitably repetitive loss each Spring. And yet, each year, for one brief hour, we are closer to the experience of Eden than at any other time of the year. This awareness makes for a simultaneous consummation and lamentation—this “experience” of Eden is the closest approximation of Adam and Eve’s experience available in this life.
What does the poet strive to do?
Sometimes through an education, other times through a reminder, poets always striving to redirect our hearts toward the good and to “urge the world along.”
