Can anyone explain the meaning behind the poem nothing gold can stay by Robert Frost?
Gold in the poem represents the transient luster of new life, but I think it also refers to anything we hold precious in life (gold as a precious metal, a symbol of wealth). Everything in life is transient, and we have to enjoy it in the moment, because it soon will be gone. But there’s another level that this poem has always spoken to me on, with the message “nothing gold can stay.” It’s kind of like saying “you can’t take it with you.” Our lives, in the greater scheme of things, are fleeting moments in which the “gold” we amass will soon be left behind. There’s a sense of sorrow in this, but also a sense of freedom, because this is the way it should be. It’s sort of an anti-Midas touch. Let the gold pass from your touch because it isn’t meant to stay. Anyway, that’s how the poem always struck me.
