PoetryConnection.net Discussion

[iamashley]

I was wondering if any of you have any comments on the poem Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost. I think there is a lot to this poem and i was just wondering what you all thought.

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[/b]

[Gomez]

Mind you, I'm only in gr.10 so don't be too hard on me.

“Nothing Gold Can Stay” is a poem based on the thought of nature’s life cycle and how that represent so much of our lives and always has. Frost incorporates iambic pentameter with a simple aabb rhyme scheme so the poem is easily enjoyed. Robert Frost uses nature as a metaphor for the underlaying message that natures seasons are similar to our lives. The poem starts off telling us about the joys of spring. “Nature’s first green is gold / Her hardest hue to hold” represent the start of spring and how the first things to grow again make us overjoyed that they are golden moments for us; but that the usually wither and die since it’s so hard to sustain life at the start. “Her early leaf’s a flower / But only so an hour” tell how the first leaf is one from a flower but it too is hard to sustain. An underlaying meaning for these line is that when we are born that it’s a golden moment but it’s hard to nourish us; then we bloom into an innocent kid but only for so long until we become an young adult. The next lines express that leaves drop from the trees and that Eden is saddened that by the dying beauty. The bottom line of the poem is that everything must change and that nothing stays the same.

[iamashley]

how old did you say you were?
anyway, you have an amazing vocabulary and i see where you get some of your ideas for you interpretation of this poem but i personally feel it has more to do with the treasuring of natures first beauty. "natures first green is gold" is a metephore using the universal symbol of gold meaning that when spring first arrives it is valued but then we come to the line "leaf subsides to leaf" meaning that the green looses it valubility after a short time to us beacuse it all becomes the same.

[mattebert]

also notice the 4 stanzas, meaning the four seasons, which further illustrates the cycle of nature

[Buckaroo]

There is a lot to this poem, bathed in simple clothes, with Frost-type imagery. I agree, the bottom line is a reflection of the inevability of change and the maturation process. We must understand and appreciate the "gold" of life is quite special and transitory as well, as was Eden-- and mankind, like Adam and Eve, usually is short-sighted about the gift of the "gold" and fails to appreciate it. It is a poem about maturation of things and people. Thank you all for commenting. I hope this adds something to the mix.
_________________
Good wishes from Pottsburg Creek

[*Starz*]

I'm in 7th gr and I'm kinda confused...

I have this poetry unit to write on nature and this poem seems to catch my eye. I also have to give a symbolic analysis. What I've picked out so far is the leaf, flower, and the colors green and gold. I think the Garden of Eden is partly symbolic too. What I don't understand is their meaning. What does it mean to have the flower before the leaf, gold before green? Is it like the cycle of life and nature, where the beginning meets with the end?
There's one line I really need to puzzle out; "then leaf subsides to leaf". Does it mean that after the flower's intensity is gone, so is the leaf's, so that no one notices until the flower reappears? Does the symbolic question of the green and gold also have the same meaning?

I ponder and ponder, but I'm back to square one. Help!

[doggydog32]

Well, I'm only a sophomore in high school, but this is my take on it...

The first line is a sort of paradox within itself... Green is thought to be the first mark of spring, the color of life, while the first sign of life in the New England Birch tree and the Willow tree isn't green at all, but a soft, golden color, and then later darkens to green. The second line, IMO, is actually a reference to wealth itself, what you first think of when you hear "gold", and how difficult it is to maintain.

The second couplet is another sort of paradox, but with "flower" and "leaf" instead of "gold" and "green". When the first leaf on a plant unfurls, it first resembles a flower blooming, though it is still really a leaf. Apparent as a flower, the leaf only exists in disguise a short while, then reveals its true state as a leaf. In the two parallel paradoxes, we find the gold becoming the real green of a leaf, and the flower of any possible color becoming the real green of a leaf. Apparent gold shifts to green, and apparent flower subsides into a leaf. In each case, however, an emotional loss is associated with the changes. The color of gold and all its associations with richness and vitality really can't be preserved at all. Likewise, the delicacy and beauty of a flower doesn't last long, either. Because of this, there is a feeling of sadness when gold changes to green and flower changes to leaf (actually subsides, according to the poem). As far as the poem goes, though, the thing that morphs into its true self (gold to green of life and flower into leaf, which, in turn, gives life to the tree or plant) experiences an apparent or seeming fall. This "subsiding" is actually a fall into greater value than the original state. With this idea, he closes with "So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day." When the gold changes to green, it actually signals an increase in strength and vitality in the plant, it's a sign that it is healthy. When the flower changes to leaf, that, too, is a sign that the plant is developing nicely. If it hadn't been that "Eden sank to grief", our lives would not be as full of feeling; we wouldn't know pain, strife, melancholy... anything that strengthens our will and character, we would not know. "So dawn goes down to day"... although the rich colors of dawn are lost in the transition to day; there is a certain incompleteness felt during the dawn that is not really righted until later. Many people do not really feel completely awake or aware until noontime, which makes the hours after dawn, overall, more enjoyable and complete. In each case the second element is actually a value, a part of a natural process by which the cycle of fuller life is completed.

[doggydog32]

Sorry, I would edit my previous post, but I can't, so... Well, I have to do this research paper on Robert Frost, and that includes choosing four works of his and writing a synopsis and interpretation for each. My first post is pretty much sort of a "practice run", and I'd like to know how I did, so don't be afraid to criticize me or point out anything I might have missed.

[page]

i usually enjoy frost's work, but i deifnitely do not like this one. i though doggydog especially made some good points, but the simple rhyme cheme makes it distateful to me. it just feels wrong. but its obviously just me.

[Sunset]

This poem was mention in a book i read called, "the Outsiders". in a nutshell, this poem is about how nothing wonderful can always stay wonderful. hope that helps!

[liz15]

i am a jr in high school and alls i can ay is that Frost is Poetic genius in the scence. He knows what he is talking about but lets the reader get thier own grasp of the topic.

[nikeshox_14]

im only grade 7, so take it easy on me

i think this poem is about beauty. I think it means that things are beautiful for only a period of time. Then, it is not as beautiful. Take a newborn for example. It is beautiful when it is young, but when it grows up, its beauty disappears. Same with nature. Leaves are green for a short time. Then, they turn different colours and fall off. I don't know if im right though.

[ladyfalcon]

Robert Frost's poems are extremely beautiful and deep in that he has a great understanding of the human nature. This poem 'Nothing Gold can Stay' address youth, wealth, other early beginnings, and ahything beautiful. By comparing it it the cycle of nature, Frost points out how nothing lasts poignantly depicted with the allusion to Eden, pardise on Earth that was lost to humanity. He repeats this idea of ephemerealness of life showing expressing the sorrow resulting from loss. However, more importantly, the speaker expresses the need to let go, to let nature run its course and accept what is meant to be since greater tradegy lies in those who grasp for what is lose seeking to be young when they are old.

[sarahjay]

[b]Nature's first green is gold(I think this is less literal, like he means gold like precious, natures first green is really precious)
Her hardest hue to hold ( and it's really hard to hold on to your youth, and really)
Her early leaf's a flower ( you know how trees bud before they actually become a leave I think that is what he means by flower, and when women are pregnant sometimes it's referred to as blossoming, so like before a child is created it first has to grow inside it's mother, and before a leaf is displayed to the world, it needs to be created!)
But only so an hour (I think this just referrs to how long it takes, cause it doesn't really take that long)
Then leaf subsides to leaf ( you know when leaves reach that stage where they turn from green to gold, or red, or whatever color they choose haha, it's like they're showing their age, this is hard for me to explain, the colors show that the leaves time is almost up! kind of like wrinkles and grey hair show other's that poeple are aging and stuff. ya know? it's like a transition)
So Eden sank to grief ( and people are sad cause there's a cold desolate time ahead, with no green leaves, and people are sad when people they love die.)
So dawn goes' down to day
Nothing gold can stay (I think this is kinda dramatic, like nothing precious, or close to you can stay forever, which is true, it just sounds harsh)

I really don't think that Frost meant this to be a depressing poem, which is probably what I made it sound liek haha sorry,but I'm tired, I think he described it this way to sort of demonstrate how death is a naturally occuring thing, it's happening all around us in little ways that we barely take time to contemplate, and we shouldnt' take our youth for granted, nor ignore our loved ones, casue nothing gold can stay!

lol I hope that makes sense, and shows some nuance of intelligence.

[dmac68]

This is one of my all-time favorite poems...

Like many of the others who posted to this discussion group, I also tend to think of this as a poem that deals with the "seasons" of life and the inevitability of change.

But let me digress for a moment: I noticed that many of the younger participants in this group prefaced their comments with caveats like, "I'm only in seventh grade," or "I'm only a sophomore in high school." To those young people, I would like to offer a little advice when it comes to the interpretation of poetry, and the advice goes something like this...

A poem can mean almost anything you want it to mean. If you ask ten different people to interpret the same poem, you're very likely to get ten similar--yet slightly different--answers. The thing is, if the person doing the "interpreting" is reading and commenting on the work honestly, each of those ten answers is probably "right" in its own way.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, when dealing with the interpretation of poetry, don't worry too much about finding the "right" answer. Just read and enjoy!