"Nothing Gold Can Stay" was written in 1923 by the American poet Robert Frost. It was published in a collection called New Hampshire the same year, which would later win the 1924 Pulitzer Prize. Frost is well-known for using depictions of rural life to explore wider social and philosophical themes. "Nothing Gold Can Stay," written when Frost was 48, is no exception, using the metaphor of spring's ending to examine the transience of youth, beauty, and ultimately life itself.
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The Full Text of “Nothing Gold Can Stay”
1Nature’s first green is gold,
2Her hardest hue to hold.
3Her early leaf’s a flower;
4But only so an hour.
5Then leaf subsides to leaf.
6So Eden sank to grief,
7So dawn goes down to day.
8Nothing gold can stay.
The Full Text of “Nothing Gold Can Stay”
1Nature’s first green is gold,
2Her hardest hue to hold.
3Her early leaf’s a flower;
4But only so an hour.
5Then leaf subsides to leaf.
6So Eden sank to grief,
7So dawn goes down to day.
8Nothing gold can stay.
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“Nothing Gold Can Stay” Summary
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“Nothing Gold Can Stay” Themes
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The Transience of Life, Beauty, and Youth
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Nothing Gold Can Stay”
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Line 1
Nature’s first green is gold,
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Line 2
Her hardest hue to hold.
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Line 3
Her early leaf’s a flower;
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Line 4
But only so an hour.
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Line 5
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
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Line 6
So Eden sank to grief,
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Line 7
So dawn goes down to day.
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Line 8
Nothing gold can stay.
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“Nothing Gold Can Stay” Symbols
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Gold
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Nature
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“Nothing Gold Can Stay” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
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Metaphor
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Assonance
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Anaphora
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Consonance
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Personification
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“Nothing Gold Can Stay” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Hue
- Subsides
- So
- Eden
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Nothing Gold Can Stay”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Nothing Gold Can Stay” Speaker
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“Nothing Gold Can Stay” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Nothing Gold Can Stay”
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More “Nothing Gold Can Stay” Resources
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External Resources
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A Reading by the Poet — Listen to Frost performing his poem live.
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More Poems by the Author — A selection of poems by Frost, plus a more detailed biography of the poet.
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A Documentary — A 40-minute documentary, featuring live footage of the author and offering some insight into his life and experiences.
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Video Biography — A short video biography summarising the poet's life and career highlights.
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"The Outsiders" — Listen to a character recite Frost's poem in a scene from the classic 1980s coming-of-age drama, The Outsiders."
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Robert Frost
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