Nothing Lasts Forever in Robert Frost's Poem, Nothing Gold Can Stay

“Nothing Gold Can Stay” is a poem published by Robert Frost. The poem illustrates the fact that nothing will last forever. It especially stresses the fact that money will not last forever and will soon disappear. Frost makes his point clear throughout the poem by depicting nature. The entire poem talks about objects in nature that seem beautiful at first, but then subside into nothing. Throughout the poem, Frost uses deep symbolism, rhyme, and allusion to reveal his point. The poem consists of vibrant and lush imagery to grab the reader’s attention and show the reader that nothing will last forever.

The title of the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” is one of the most informative and depicting parts of the whole poem. It uses connotation, denotation, and symbolism to relate objects in real life to the whole meaning of the poem. The word “Nothing” is a pure use of denotation, for it literary means nothing. The word “Gold” shows connotation and metonymy because the author is meaning it as wealth or any humanly owned object. It is also symbolizing uncorrupted wealth, or all the short yet beautiful moments in life. The two words “can” and “stay” use pure denotation. With the use of the connotation, denotation, metonymy, and symbolism, Frost sums up his point about wealth being ephemeral in just four words.

Line one and line two start the poem’s rhyme scene of aabbccdd. This rhyme scheme is a paradox. The rhyme scene seems very positive and put together when just looking at the structure, but the poem is revealing that nothing in life actually turns out positive. Line one talks about nature’s first “green,” symbolizing life in the beginning or money when you first get it. There is also symbolism in the word “gold.” It symbolizes perfec...

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...r”, “hardest”, “hue”, and “hold”, and it is used to serve the same purpose. Line seven also has symbolism with nature objects like “dawn” and “day”. Dawn symbolizing new life turning into day which brings hardships and negative obstacles. Line eight is the same as the title. Line eight consists of denotation, connotation, and symbolism (as perviously mentioned) tying the use of nature to human objects and showing how nothing perfect can last.

Throughout the poem the author uses figurative language to deeply emphasize his point. Every example he includes seem happy at first, but then they turn negative or even die. The author uses all of his figurative language in a way to make them seem good at first, but then turn negative. Every part, every word, and every punctuation mark within the poem is cleverly added to enforce the fact that nothing good will last forever.