Nothing Gold Can Stay Analysis

New Hampshire1923Nature'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 gold can stay.

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this poem means that when people are born they have a certain inocence, but as they get older, their inocence starts to fade away. "natures first grean is gold"

| Posted on 2009-11-21 | by a guest

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this poem means that as people grow older their inecence goes away. like in the book the outsiders, as johnny grows up he is more confident.

| Posted on 2009-11-21 | by a guest

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To me it speaks of the beginning of something new; perhaps new love, friendship or hope. Yet the moments that accompany this new beginning, which can make even the ordinary seem extraordinary, will inevitably disappear with time, like all things that were once so beautiful and new. They leave behind only a sense of longing for the past as the ordinary becomes ordinary again, and the magic of the moment is gone. This could be a rather melancholy note to end on, but I also believe that the poem offers readers a lesson: savour these special moments in life, because like the light of a sunset and the beauty that it casts over the world, they will always seem to disappear far too soon.

| Posted on 2009-11-16 | by a guest

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i believe this poem is about how youth is fresh and beautiful and with aging, things become hardened. we went over this poem when we were reading the outsiders in class. this reminds me of what happens to the greasers like dally and darry. they had to grow up too fast and so they hardened quicker too

| Posted on 2009-11-09 | by a guest

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My analysis is that Robert Frost uses nature to show how at the peak of a plants life, it is green and beautiful, then time comes along, taking its innocence. The same occures with everything great in the world.

| Posted on 2009-11-04 | by a guest

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Robert Frost argument means that he use's gold to show us how valueable is the begging of something new.

| Posted on 2009-10-30 | by a guest

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i believe it means when you are young you pure and not bad like a punk and as you get oolder you can't be that pur because the world opens up and there are a lot of bad things out there.

| Posted on 2009-10-29 | by a guest

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we learned about this poem in school when we read the outsiders.to me it was the most important part of the book. robert frost wrote this amazingly. this poem has more then one meaning & different meanings for different people.
i believe hes trying to say that when your a kid your gold. its a hard color to hold with everything in the world.the early years of your childhood are green(good/new).but saying the pure/innocents can only stay for alittle bit of time.then things start to change.so the happiness sinks to grief.so things completely change leaving you to realize purity can not stay.(nothing gold can stay). hope this sumed it up for some people. oh haha & to make this a bit funny im only 13 & i probully figured this out before alot of older people :D

| Posted on 2009-10-18 | by a guest

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Do not take the little moments in life forgranted.

| Posted on 2009-10-16 | by a guest

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hi to all i wonder if anyone knows the alliteration,assonance, consonance and the rhythm of the poem, thnx
steven

| Posted on 2009-09-23 | by a guest

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I really like this poem and so should you. but I am wondering about what it really means!!!!

| Posted on 2009-09-22 | by a guest

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Truly an amazing piece of literary work. It shows that the little things in life should be appreciated, and nothing can be taken for granted. When one can achieve that, then one can be truly happy.

| Posted on 2009-09-21 | by a guest

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i believe robert foster is rong gold can stay for ever look at the anciant greek treasures they are made from gold and they have more than 1 thousand years

| Posted on 2009-08-31 | by a guest

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Honestly, it seems to me, that while he may be writing about life, death, virginity, change, etc., there is a deeper metaphor regarding seasons that makes this poem truly blissful. The first green of nature is obviously the first spring, the birth and renewal of the world; a new year, a new season of fertility. Of course, the gold- besides explaining the color New England willows shimmer- symbolizes how valuable spring is, how rich and vivid it looks compared to the harsh winter that just passed by. Of course, the liveliness of the plants and people in spring will soon die away until the next year. It only lasts for a few short months. The next two lines are basically redundant, just explaining his message again- spring begins with blossoming flowers, things all over are being renewed again, but soon they all change as spring leads into summer, then fall, and then death in winter. The cycle continues for the entire 'day,' or year, before it can begin again. Nothing gold can stay- spring, the season of youth and rebirth, only lasts for so long. Childhood soon turns to adulthood in the fall and then winter strikes when the leaves wither away- people evetually live through their cycle of life and are taken from the earth, as are the leaves, to make room for a new generation the next spring. So, in a way, Robert Frost is connecting seasons to the cycle of life, and explaining how childhood- nature's first golden shade of green- won't last forever, no matter how rich and beautiful it may seem.
-sara
xsunx3kiissedx

| Posted on 2009-08-27 | by a guest

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Many of the comments on here are completely accurate, try tying this in the meaning of The Little Prince. The symbolism of his rose and his discussions with the author on youth and innocence parallel nicely.

| Posted on 2009-08-11 | by a guest

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I wasn't sure what it meant, but when I read the outsiders I understood. It means when your gold your a kid and everything is new to you. That is dawn. When you get older use lose your innocence and that is day; when nothing is new anymore. Nothing gold can stay

| Posted on 2009-08-03 | by a guest

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I wasn't sure what it meant, but when I read the outsiders I understood. It means when your gold your a kid and everything is new to you. That is dawn. When you get older use lose your innocence and that is day; when nothing is new anymore. Nothing gold can stay

| Posted on 2009-08-03 | by a guest

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"Nothing Gold Can Stay" is a poem that stresses the vital imporatnce of everyday life and although everymoment is taken for granted people should respect the small things in life such as a sunrise.

| Posted on 2009-07-21 | by a guest

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"Nothing Gold Can Stay" is about the transience of everything around us. The poem consist of rhyming couplets and in each couplet it represent a metaphor. For example, "Nature's first green is gold" is a metaphor for youth and how we can not hold onto youth forever.

| Posted on 2009-06-08 | by a guest

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is that a literary period??? can someone help me??

| Posted on 2009-06-08 | by a guest

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'Leaf subsides to leaf' in the fall, leaves fall off of trees (which looks boring and dull-) but it makes room for new leaves in the spring. "Nature" can also be seen as human nature which ties in with the fall of mankind; at first they are youthful which is represented by the "first green" and "early leaf's flower" which are unadorned and beautiful as well as young.

| Posted on 2009-05-30 | by a guest

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This poem can also be compared to nature. This poem describes the inevitability of death, along with other things we as humans cannot change. 'Leaf subsides to leaf' in the fall, leaves fall off of trees- which looks down and drabby- but it makes room for new leaves in the spring.Its natures cycle for things to die to make room for the new.

| Posted on 2009-05-26 | by a guest

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i think that the gold is what you choose it to be(usually good things) and the day is life and when it says nothing gold can stay its stating that life isnt perfect and nothing that seems perfect can stay

| Posted on 2009-05-22 | by a guest

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my teachers mother actually met robert frost and this is what it mean:
Youth doesn't last forever.
Also it means to cherrish your life because one day we will all die

| Posted on 2009-05-21 | by a guest

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i'm doing a paper on this and i think that nothing gold can stay is about how nothing special or precious lasts forever,like in outsiders when johnny dies. i think the hardest hue to hold is that its hard to keep the specialness, and after the day is done, the specialness fades away

| Posted on 2009-05-20 | by a guest

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The first literal take on the poem can be of course this cycle of life which cannot be stopped "leaf subsides to leaf" basically day to day. Everything changes over time and so naturally it can barely stay the same of "an hour". The word gold connotates beauty, treasures, and happiness and with the imagery of leafs it can conjure up images of fall. The seasons change so it will not always be fall, also it can reference to fall of mankind as in the garden of eden which "sank to grief". Gold can symbolize the garden of eden a time of innocence and happiness, a paradise, but eventually this innocence is lost when knowledge is gained and the golden paradise is gone for them. "Nature" can also be seen as human nature which ties in with the fall of mankind, at first they are youthful which is represented by the "first green" and "early leaf's flower" which are simplistic and beautiful as well as young. This also ties in with the golden age a time for innocent happiness but it to fell. The innocence fades when life happens.It is not a constant and will not remain but there is always the possibility of it returning. There could be a new innocence in another circumstance or event of life.

| Posted on 2009-05-18 | by a guest

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i think it means that notthing speicail to you can stay forever so enjoy it while its there

| Posted on 2009-05-12 | by a guest

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We digusted this poem after readind the outiders and the real meaning is that you cant stay innocent forever. gold=innocence and as you get older you lose your innocence.

| Posted on 2009-05-09 | by a guest

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poems have different meanings to different people. that's why they are so great. Frost could have been talking about anything or anyone. but the fact of the matter is that nothing gold can stay. eventually it will all go away. if it is the green grass or some girls virginity, fine, but it doesn't all last.
and i second that nowhere does it say Adam and Eve were kicked out due to her virginity. they had to reproduce somehow. the got kicked out because they did the exact opposite of what they were told to do.

| Posted on 2009-05-03 | by a guest

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I think this poem is talking about childhood being gold and growing up to be an adult is like day. nothing gold can stay... lol

| Posted on 2009-04-28 | by a guest

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i think it means that people on earth are golden and when they die the goldeness is gone so no one , thing , or image can ever stay gold!

| Posted on 2009-04-28 | by a guest

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This poem was actually written about the death of his daughter at only a couple of weeks of life.

| Posted on 2009-04-25 | by a guest

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I would just like to comment that saying adam and eve were kicked out of the garden because she lost her virginity... is so not in the bible

| Posted on 2009-04-22 | by a guest

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I would just like to comment that saying adam and eve were kicked out of the garden because she lost her virginity... is so not in the bible

| Posted on 2009-04-22 | by a guest

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this means that dont get used to good things how they are because they will change

| Posted on 2009-04-21 | by a guest

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I think it means that, nothing good can stay as it is

| Posted on 2009-04-19 | by a guest

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it's amazing how people try to over analyze the simplest things. this poem is just about the beauty of nature when the sun first makes its presence to signal the day. nature being mostly green, has a rare golden beauty at dawn as the sun highlights the dew-glistened leaves and such. the leaves hardly look as beautiful as they do at this particular hour (as beautiful as a flower). of course, dawn can only be dawn for about an hour and then these beautiful leaves (flowers) turn back into just leaves again. Eden, home to the garden planted eastward and which is also sometimes referred to as the place where the sun rises, becomes further and further away from the sun as it moves to set in the west. thus losing that initial beauty captured by the rising sun. at is at this point that dawn turns into day (as stated earlier as dawn only lasts about an hour and then gives way to the day). nothing gold can stay. of course you can apply this poem to many things in life but this is what frost was thinking when he wrote this beautiful poem.

| Posted on 2009-04-16 | by a guest

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I think this poem has a double meaning, really. I think it can mean both life and virginity (Eh, I know that sounds weird) but seriously..I think it can be taken both ways.

| Posted on 2009-04-02 | by a guest

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Everyone says that this poem is about life and how life goes by too fast. How each person looses their innocence as they get older and then when they die the reamaining people are greaving for them. How do we know that this is what Robert Frost was actually talking about. He may be talking about the virginity of a girl like someone else said, living a virgin for life is the hardest thing to do and within the blink of an eye it can be gone. We can never know what he really meant as he wrote this poem yet we all pull it apart piece by piece trying to understand what it is he's trying to tell us. We need him to tell us...

| Posted on 2009-03-29 | by a guest

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whats the messagae of the poem i still dont understand anthing it very confusing

| Posted on 2009-03-28 | by a guest