Nothing Gold Can Stay

One hundred years ago this poem by Robert Frost was first published in the Yale Review. A year later it would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1924.

Nothing Gold Can Stay is one of my favorite poems from Robert Frost because I love how accessible it is – even for those who “don’t get poetry”. Inspired by the fall foliage of New England, Frost’s words weave a visual that is easy to follow. The underlying meaning of this poem also reminds me to make the most of each day and to try and take nothing for granted.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature’s first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

I hope you enjoy this poem as much as I do.