Nothing Gold Can Stay Analysis

Nothing Gold Can Stay 

By Robert Frost

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 gold can stay. 

               This is one of my favorite poems, I first read it when I was in 8th grade in my English class. It was used as an allusion in the book "The Outsiders" by S.E Hinton. I reccomend everyone to read that book at least once!! It's just one of those books you just have to read!!

               This poem means so much to me. The other day I was analyzing it with my mom. 

Concise summary- Gold is beautiful but it doesn't last.

                You must be crazy if you'd think I'd just leave it at that without going into detail about why I love this poem.  

Nature's first green is gold. -The first stage nature goes through is gold. This line is indicating to early spring. Before nature becomes green, it's gold. 

Her hardest hue to hold. - Bam! You know this is important because it, uses alliteration. It also made Nature, feminine. This line is saying that Nature has a hard time holding onto or keeping the color Gold. So you know gold doesn't really last. 

Her early leaf's a flower; - Robert Frost is saying that just like Nature's first green is gold, Nature's first leaf is a flower. Again, this is indicating to spring. Before there are leaves, there are flowers. The flowers die off and in the summer the green leaves come. Robert Frost used this metaphor to blur the difference between leaves and flowers. 

But only so an hour. - Okay, so the flowers don't last long. This doesn't literally mean that they only last an hour, but that the flowers were there briefly. What else doesn't last long? (Hint: it's gold haha). 

Then leafs subsides to leaf.- In this line the word subside is key. Subsides means to lower itself. This line means that the first leaf (flower) actually becomes a leaf. However instead of using "becomes", Frost used "subsides". He is indicating that the first leaf was waaaay better than the second. The first leaf had to lower itself to become the second leaf (the green leaves in summer). 

So Eden sank to grief.- this is another metaphor! Don't you just love them? Okay I know I'm a nerd. I'll just go cry to myself in the corner now lol. Well anyways this also a biblical allusion to the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve. Robert Frost is comparing the fall of Adam and Eve to the "fall" of the first leaf. The Fall of Adam and Eve caused mankind to know all of the grief we know today. However, their fall is also regarded as a successful fall. If Adam and Eve never sinned they would still be in that garden living blissfully and we would have never existed. Their sin changed everything. It set things in motion. Robert Frost is suggesting that there could also be an upside to grief, or the fall of leaves(Gold). 

So dawn goes down to day. - another metaphor haha. Frost is comparing the fall of leaves and the fall of Adam and Eve to dawn becoming day. Dawn is lowering itself to become day. The sun is rising with an explosion of colors but then it becomes one color. However, maybe it's good that dawn becomes day? 

Nothing gold can stay. - I like to think of this as basically the summary of the whole poem.  It ties all of the metaphors together. After gold there was green leaves, people that know sin, and day. They might not be as good as Gold but it's not bad either. 

Although the stage of Gold is beautiful, it is brief. It never stays. 

I think of Gold as a symbol of youth. Although youth is wonderful and glorious, it doesn't last. It goes away too. I also like to interpret it as meaning that everything that was once gold, goes away like everything else. Dawn goes down to day, Nothing gold can stay. 

Stay Golden, Ponyboy.