DARBAR 1NIRMALSINH DARBARAISLINN MCDOUGALLENGL 100-99228 JANUARY 2018 A Close Reading of “Nothing Gold Can Stay”by Robert Frost”NothingGold Can Stay” by Robert Frost is a poem about changes in nature and humanlife.
With the help of this poem, Frost explores various aspects of changingnature by examining that even the most beautiful thing of the world alsochanges with time. “Nothing Gold Can Stay” covers everything from asmall leaf, to the cycle of the sun, to the Garden of Eden, in just eight linesultimately demonstrating that change is only permanent in this world.Thepoem is penned in iambic trimeter form by the poet.
However the beginning andthe ending of poem is having a trochee form which is antonym of iambic formwhich suggests the contrast of nature and nothing. The rhyme scheme of the poemis AABBCCDD. The first line “Nature’s first green is gold,” (Line 1) suggests the setting ofthe poem that we are in laps of nature. Also this line reminds of spring seasonas nature’s first green is spring. “Her hardest hue to hold.” (Line 2) have alliteration of the letter ‘H’. Also the couplet endshere with the same rhyme.
The nature is also personified as the Frost isdescribing hardest time of nature as if nature is a human being having easy andhard times. The rhyme scheme changes from beginning of a new couplet in thirdline when Frost writes “Her early leaf’s a flower;” and start to be a typical poet byusing metaphor in the line. Actually in real world the leaves are given spaceby blooms so that they can get sunlight to blossom. On moving further Frost completesthe second couplet and also the structure he built up in the previous line bysaying “But only so an hour.” (Line 4).
DARBAR 2 Actually by saying this he wantto describe that the golden state of leaf remains only for a short period afterwhich they becomes green. According to me it also suggests that childhood alsopasses very fast and person becomes mature and starts taking responsibilitieson own. The beginning of next to couplet describes the falling of leaf to makeway for the next leaf. This figurative language in fifth line of the poem accordingto my interpretation of poem suggests that spring flowers are more beautifulthan the leaves in the summer where they appear to be gold as there is hugeamount of sun rays falling on them.
In the next line poet uses allusion by saying”So Eden sank to grief,” (Line 6) which is a biblical reference of the story of Adam andEve and the act of Eve of eating forbidden fruit and the fall of them and thedescendants. This demonstrates tragic that even the first humans were expelledfrom the Garden of Eden similarly the leaves which were golden will eventuallyturn down into green leaves. In the beginning of last couplet, Frost demonstratesthe daily cycle of sun from dawn to a typical day and then dusk. Thus in thevery last line Frost connects to the title “Nothinggold can stay.
“(Line 8). After reading the last couplet another interpretation comes into mindwhich is that Frost maybe talking about the summer days. The gold in the beginningmight be referring to the sunlight of dawn and in the last second line dawnmoves into a day.” Nothing Gold Can Stay” byRobert Frost thus demonstrates that a golden leaf will turn into mere greenleaves by giving all the imagery in the beginning which further indicates thatnothing will remain forever and the only thing which is permanent in this world is change. DARBAR-3WorkCitedFROST, ROBERT. “NothingGold Can Stay.” The New WascanaAnthology: Poetry, Short Fiction, and Critical Prose.
Eds. Medrie Purdhamand Michael Trussler. Regina: University of Regina Press, 2014. (pp. 96)
