Beauty in Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay”
In the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, Robert Frost illustrates how beauty fades and does not last forever. Throughout this poem Frost shows how nature begins in a beautiful manner and slowly goes away as time moves on. Beauty is shown in how green is considered gold, how the leaf diminishes, and how dawn goes down to day.
To begin with, beauty is displayed in the beginning lines of the poem, “Nature’s first green is gold”. This illustrates how nature, such as dawn, is most beautiful at its beginning. The gold represents how valuable and precious we perceive nature to be. From the point of view of Jeffrey Meyers,” the opening lines represent how either nature’s first green in the springtime has now turned to gold or that nature’s first growth is golden.” (Modern American Poetry, P.5, Meyers) From the point of view of Mordecai Marcus,” the first lines signify how the pale green leaves of early spring are gold-like in their light-reflecting tints as well as in their preciousness and promise.” (Modern American Poetry, P.5, Marcus) The first two lines signify how the beauty of nature is the hardest to hold at its beginning.
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Next, all things eventually begin to fade away.
In lines three and four of the poem, it talks about how the leaf is only a flower for a short period of time, then it begins to diminish to something less than what it started out as. The leaf is now a leaf and no longer a flower. From the point of view of Mordecai Marcus, “the green-gold leaves darken quickly, a change that symbolizes the brevity of all ideal heights. Mordecai refers to John R. Doyle, who points out that the word “subsides” provides the poems point of balance.” (Modern American Poetry, P.5, Marcus) These lines signify how even gold can lose its’
value. Lastly, beauty is shown in the last lines of the poem. These lines signify how dawn goes down to day, again going back to how nothing gold will last forever. These lines also represent how dawn must come to an end. From the point of view of William H. Pritchard, ““dawn” changes both in fact and in words.” (Modern American Poetry, P.5, Pritchard) From the point of view of Mordecai Marcus,” dawn’s going to “down to day” is another touch of the unexpected, for day should be life at its height, but Frost implies that at the moment when sunrise ushers in day, diminishments begin.” (Modern American Poetry, P.5, Marcus) The last two lines in the poem signify that when the sun starts to shine, that is when things start to fade away. In conclusion, Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay” illustrates how beauty fades away and does not last forever. Nature is most beautiful when it is at the beginning or has just been born which is signified in the beginning of the poem as green is referred to as gold. The middle of the poem show how things begin to fade away as the leaf loses its value and becomes less than a flower. The end of the poem proves that when the sun comes up things begin to immediately fade away. Robert Frost does a wonderful job portraying the theme of beauty in his poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay”.
Adding on to the previous paragraph, Frost in the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” Frost uses an allusion in “So Eden sank to grief So dawn goes down to day Nothing gold can stay”(lines 6-8). This is an allusion because it refers to the story of Adam and Eve in which both are in paradise but are soon thrown out after giving in to temptation. This helps to convey the
First, tone is a very important aspect of the poem “Thanatopsis.” While reading the poem, the reader may feel a slight change in the tone of the poem. At first the poem seems as though it were about nature and its beauty. For example, in the poem Bryant writes “She has a voice of gladness, and a smile/And eloquence of beauty, and she glides.”(4-5) Here, the tone is happy and elegant. Also, the reader is under the impression that nature is a safe and beautiful place. However, as the reader continues on, one may notice a sudden shift in tone. Bryant writes, “Into his darker musings, with a mild/And gentle sympathy, that steals away/ Their sharpness, ere he is aware.”(6-8) Here, the tone shifts to dark and gloomy. Throughout the poem Bryant uses numerous words or phrases that relate to death. One very noticeable instance of this is in lines nine and 11. Bryant uses the words such as shroud, pall, and narrow house. Shroud and pall are both word related to coffins. A shroud is a cloth used to wrap a body before burial. A pall is the cover to a coffin. This depicts the sinist...
So Eden sank to grief,” Lines 5-6 this is nor good nor evil but it is neutral as it says that the leaf subsided to a leaf which no change and eden sank to grief which was on her own accord which made it so there was no fluctuation in the poem for weather it was bad or good. Also it doesn't have Young vs old because it says something may stay but when it is young it is already withering away and when it is old it does the same so it does nothing to change the theme of the statement. Although it does have beauty vs ugly where it says that in the span of an hour something can go from pure beauty of radiating gold it can grow older and become a Rusty metal and form a certain ugliness. innocence vs Wise is shown in “Nature's first green is gold” Line 1 “But only so an hour” Line 4 when something is first born it is full of innocence and has done very little to nothing wrong whereas if you give but a moment to live it can all change and become very wise for things like lying or how to deceive the people that have wronged you. This is the fourth and final example of modernism to be shown in this
The poem ‘Gold’ by Pat Mora shows us that anyplace that may seem creepy or not satisfactory can be beautiful in it’s own way. This poem contains a couple of examples of figurative language. First, when they say the sun is painting the desert, or the wind is running, those are both examples of personification in ‘Gold’. Second, when the poem said, “arms as wide as the sky”, and, “like a hawk extends her wings”, those are examples of similes because it says like or as. When I read the poem it reminded my of the novel we read last year, Star Girl, this is because of the Arizona type climate Pat Mora was explaining, is just like the setting of Star Girl. I could really sense the freedom in the setting. The readers can feel his message of beauty
The flowers around her seem to be, “frothing with delight.” To Janie, the passion in the world around her is so great that it is overbearing. The flowers are overflowing with pleasure, as if the goodness of the world was an uncontainable force, reeking out of every living thing. At this moment, Janie’s sole focus is gaining sexual experiences, so even in her fleeting moments she only sees in beauty and sexual pleasure in everything around her, playing off of her own yearnings. The world Janie sees is basking in the, “gold of the sun.” The sun is what ties all of what Janie sees together. It touches every living creature and glistens off the surface of each and every leaf. The sun is a source of warmth and welcome to all that it touches, tieing them all together in one golden hue. Gold is also a metaphor for value and wealth. With the sun reaching every aspect of the image created within the passage, it is giving it value thus glorifying it in Janie’s eyes to portray her desire to understand more of what happens around her. The passage ends referring to the “singing of the world.” Playing off of the depiction of music presented earlier with the flute, the world around Janie is characterized to have an imperishable happiness presented through constant music and harmony between the elements, an image that draws on her eagerness to take part in the joy and singing surrounding her, almost as if the her surroundings are consuming her and making her one with
This poem was about very religious. In this poem she talks about her admiration of God and how she and all humans are humbled by God's creations. She says, "The higher on the glistening sun I gazed. Whose beams was shaded by the leafy tree; The more I looked, the ore I grew amazed, and softly said, 'What glory like to thee?' Soul of this world, this universe's eye, No wonder some made thee a deity; had I not better known, alas, the same had I". This quote means that a tree because of its beauty amazes her. Also, she is saying that the thing responsible for creating such a thing must just as beautiful if not the most beautiful on the earth.
The Tragic Impermanence of Youth in Robert Frost's Nothing Gold Can Stay In his poem "Nothing Gold can Stay", Robert Frost names youth and its attributes as invaluable. Using nature as an example, Frost relates the earliest green of a newborn plant to gold; its first leaves are equated with flowers. However, to hold something as fleeting as youth in the highest of esteems is to set one's self up for tragedy. The laws of the Universe cast the glories of youth into an unquestionable state of impermanence.
The poem "Nothing Gold can Stay" deals with a real world problem that can't be solved. Things that are good and make people happy, don't always last very long. Of course everyone can remember when times were good, but change is a natural part of life. Some changes can be nice, but some can also lead to disappointment. It's all normal and happens no matter what. For example, The Outsiders and The Teacher Who Changed my Life both have proof of this occurrence. On one case, Ponyboy didn't have a perfect life to begin with, but things just go worse. For Nicholas Gage, he lived in a harsh environment, and when his wonderful mother tried to make it better, things fell. It always happens.
The poem states that everything eventually comes to an end and that not even gold can remain unchanged. The poem explains this theme with many metaphors about everything that’s coming to an end. Freeman explains that “Even the poem's rhymes contribute to this sense of inevitability: Nature's gold we (or She) cannot hold; the flower lasts only an hour; the post flower leaf is like Eden's grief; the coming of day means that dawn's gold cannot stay”(2). The poem explains that everything has a natural cycle and that nothing lasts forever. When the poem states “nothing can stay gold”, Frost looks back at the flower and the time of day and implies that it all comes to an end.
Everything that is ever perfect only lasts a limited amount of time. Robert Frost, in his poem, Nothing Gold Can Stay, explains with very few words what it may interpret, yet the reader must look beyond the exterior of the poem to discover the underlying message that Frost intelligently disguised. To begin with, Frost’s first two lines are, “Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold.” these lines could be taken that a perfect moment in life, is like a sunrise, it is superb the few seconds it lasts. Next, in the poem is, “Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour.” this may sense that when in Outsiders Ponyboy and
The title of the poem is ironic, because The "White Roses" suggest youth, beauty and innocence. The poem starts with a slew "Outside the Green Velvet sitting room" This suggests luxury and wealth. The use of the colour green is also very indicative, because the colour green suggests spring and fertility and overall health. This is in contrast with the theme of the poem, which is supposed to be one of death, but in actuality, it is.
In the first stanza, the poet seems to be offering a conventional romanticized view of Nature:
Robert Frost’s intricate meanings are stated in such a way that the reader must dwell so much deeper into the poem than one does when one just reads the poem. The poet has a major theme in all of his poems and that theme is nature. Nature is something that Frost could always relate to. In nature Frost sees life, people, and situations in life. In the poem “After Apple-Picking”, he uses the situation of a man picking an apple as another lesson on life. Picking apples is tedious work where one must observe and pick the ripest apples...
Frost’s display of nature helps define and clarify the connection of nature and desire in the A Boundless Moment. The poem portrays immense beauty, but is interrupted by the illusion that the leaves the two men see are dead. John F. Lynen of Yale University discusses in his book that, “The incident shows man's tragic limitations. His imagination cannot sustain the ideal vision long for a “boundless moment” it can mold nature to its desires, then the "Paradise-in-bloom" again becomes the dead tree of reality” (Lynen 147). Even in circumstances of illusion and imagination, desire doesn’t distort itself. The molding of nature holds its purpose with imagination to help create the desire. Frost’s use of imagery also helps to highlight the desire and the return to reality. The two men “stood a moment so in a strange worl...
“Education is the key!! Always remember that”. These are the words that my mother said to me at a very early age. Getting an education was like receiving a gold nugget, but not to keep for myself. Once I received it, it was my duty to reach back and help someone else to see the value. As I continued on my journey of receiving gold nuggets, I came across many individuals, and situations that either did not value gold nuggets (an education), did not value reaching back to show others the value (mentoring), or valued gold nuggets, but only for certain individuals, while others feel like second class (suburban schools vs. urban/rural schools). It is 2015 and there is still a universal divide among our schools and communities overall.