Robert Frost: 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.

In this poem Robert Frost is using gold as a symbol for innocence, beauty and youth.  With this the intent of the poem becomes clear. When saying ” Nature’s first green is gold” Frost is referencing youth with spring. Both begin life whether it be that of a plant or of a human being.  The lines ” Her hardest hue to hold.” and ” Then leaf subsides to leaf” describe how gold or “innocence” is a hard thing to maintain and can subside to the events that are experienced in ones life. Finally ” So dawn goes down to day” and ” Nothing gold can stay” represents that the fact is innocence cannot be kept in the world we live in.

I can personally connect to this novel because I have seen lots of people who have lost their gold/innocence by doing thing which they later regret. I have personally done things that I feel bad about and I understand how over time things add up until you and the perfect person you once were. I believe that this poem will connect to the story when a character either commits a crime or someone dies proving that “Nothing gold can stay”.