NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY

Understanding Robert Frost’s Poem in “The Outsiders”

NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY

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.

-Robert Frost

a) What is "nature's first green"?

b) Why is it "gold"? Do you think Frost means the color gold?

Nature's first green is gold.

Her hardest hue to hold.

a) What is a "hue"?b) Does nature have a hard time "holding" on to green? ( just think…don’t answer, yet…)

Her early leaf's a flower;But only so an hour.

a) What would an "early leaf" be?

b) Why is it only that way for an hour? Is it reallyan hour…what is Frost saying here?

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

a) What does the word "subsides" mean?b) Knowing that a leaf bud may look like a flower at first, but actually turns into a leaf (as we know one to look like), where could Frost be going with this poem?

So Eden sank to grief.

a) What is "Eden"?b) What is meant by the reference to "grief"?

NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY

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.

a) What do the words in red indicate to you?b) Why do you think Frost chose them?

So dawn goes down to day.Nothing gold can stay.

a) We don't typically think of dawn, or a sunrise, as "going down", as we would with dusk. Why do you think Frost worded it like this?b)What is meant by "nothing gold can stay"?

NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY

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.

-Robert Frost

Final Question: Now that you have a better understanding of the poem, how could the messages apply to more than nature? What does it say about people and life in general?