Analysis Of Nothing Gold Can Stay

In the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay," written by Robert Frost, metaphors for endings and beginnings, subtle religious hints at the felix cupla, and Christian symbolism form a cohesive theme that illustrates how the end of something leads to a hopeful beginning for something else. Alternate interpretations exist such as Bernetta Quinn's article, "Symbolic Landscape in Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay"," published in the English Journal in 1966. Quinn concedes that the religious theme is the most accepted interpretation but encourages discussion of other elements. (Quinn 1966) Judaeo Christian and nature symbolism paint a picture of transitions that are cyclic. The result of this interpretation is that fortunate beginnings replace concepts of loss and give the passage a hopeful tone.

In the first line "Natures first green is gold," the imagery is conveying the beauty of life, and that nature's first green is the Spring Season. Eden transitioning to grief and dawn transitioning to day are metaphors that relate to endings and beginnings. Eden was a beginning in religion and its fall to grief was an ending. In an article in the English Journal published in 1966, Bernetta Quinn stated the line was "another way of stating the felix culpa," a dismissive stance on the religious interpretation, although she followed, "…but, on the other hand, Frost has never been unmindful of the value of suffering and has often involved allusions to the Fall of Man in his poetry." (Quinn 1966) Dawn transitioning to day is a description of the same event in a manner that suggests that this ending was not unfortunate but that beginnings and endings can be fortunate. Quinn seems to suggest that the superficial view of the poem suggests it "appears to be merely another poem about transience" (Quinn