“Nothing Gold Can Stay”

By Robert Frost

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.

What is a topic?

What are some possible topics for this poem?

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.

Possible topics . . .

• Nature• Leaves and flowers• Time—what happens in an hour• A day—sunrise to sunset• Change• Changing friendships

How to find the theme

• Look for repeated words or phrases• Look for synonyms• Watch for comparisons• Figurative language• Study the beginning• Study the ending

What is the theme

• A theme must . . .– Convey the author’s message or– Express the central idea– Be timeless– Be universal

Possible themes . . .

• All living things must die eventually. • Youth and innocence cannot last.• The fact that all good things must at

some point come to an end.