Robert Frost

Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and philosophical themes. A popular and often-quoted poet, Frost was honored frequently during his lifetime, receiving four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry.
Early years
Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, California, to journalist William Prescott Frost, Jr., and Isabelle Moodie. His mother was of Scottish descent, and his father descended from Nicholas Frost of Tiverton, Devon, England, who had sailed to New Hampshire in 1634 on the Wolfrana.
Frost's father was a teacher and later an editor of the San Francisco Evening Bulletin (which afterwards merged into the San Francisco Examiner), and an unsuccessful candidate for city tax collector. After his father's death in May 5, 1885, in due time the family moved across the country to Lawrence, Massachusetts under the patronage of (Robert's grandfather) William Frost, Sr., who was an overseer at a New England mill. Frost graduated from Lawrence High School in 1892. Frost's mother joined the Swedenborgian church and had him baptized in it, but he left it as an adult.
Despite his later association with rural life, Frost grew up in the city, and published his first poem in his high school's magazine. He attended Dartmouth College long enough to be accepted into the Theta Delta Chi fraternity. Frost returned home to teach and to work at various jobs including delivering newspapers and factory labor. He did not enjoy these jobs at all, feeling his true calling as a poet.

 

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.

-Robert Frost

Summary of the poem.

In the poem the speaker refers to Nature's beauty which can never remain. 

 "Nature's first green is gold

Her hardest hue to hold" 

These lines above somehow represents the spring time when nature is alive and vibrant. Plants, trees, and flowers thrive and become something of value to a keen observer. The statement that green is gold almost seems like a contradiction. However, the speaker is not using the word gold in a literal sense, but in a figurative way implying that the beauty of nature is something precious and valuable. Because, of the uncaring and unyielding seasonal changes, that golden green will not endure as it succumbs to the unforgiving elements. 

Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf,

The speaker also mentions a flower that only lasts an hour. Again the speaker reiterates the limited time nature has to display its beauty. 

 So Eden sank to grief,

The poem continues describing leaves that eventually subside comparing them to the fall of Eden, which also was unable to remain "gold."

So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay.

  Finally the poem closes with its final couplet. The reference to dawn going down to day may be another emphasis on the cyclical process that occurs within nature. The final line of the poem seems strikingly negative and contains no signs of hope.

On the surface, this poem may simply be an observation of nature's cycle. In the springtime, nature thrives and displays lush images of life and purity. However, it gradually decays leaf by leaf and dies.

 Frost uses his vivid description of nature as a metaphor to depict yet another cycle that occurs within our lives. Frost leaves us a few hints that help us to uncover this other cycle.