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Overview
“Nothing Gold Can Stay” is a poem by Robert Frost, first published in 1923
. As its title suggests, the poem concerns itself with the ephemeral nature of beauty. Another poet might use this well-trodden theme to foreground feelings of bittersweetness. Frost, however, explores how ephemerality can lead to darker feelings of melancholy and loss. He wrote the poem at the age of 48, in the midst of a life filled with loss. It’s possible, then, that he composed the poem against a background of thoughts about mortality.Read the free full text, a summary & analysis, an analysis of the speaker, and explanations of important quotes from “Nothing Gold Can Stay.”
