Mary Branham Branham 1

Carter
AP Literature and Composition
6 March 2014
Robert Frost and his Musical Devices

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. 5
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

It has been proven through the science of evolution and the continual experiences of life
that the world and everything on it, is incessantly evolving. Thus, beings of life and their current
circumstances can only exist for so long. Robert Frost creates an image of this in his poem
"Nothing Gold Can Stay" written in the form of an allegory. He uses musical devices to
accomplish this as well as connotation of strategically chosen diction.
One fundamental musical device Robert Frost uses is rhyme. His rhyme scheme being
AABBCCDD, consist of both masculine and feminine rhymes. All of Frosts rhymes are end
rhymes, such as the feminine rhyme in lines 3 and 4, and the masculine rhymes in the remaining
lines. Rhyming is simply a part of the poem because it is appealing to the ear. The rhymes help
bring the poem together as a whole and create unity.
He also uses assonance. For example, leaf, (5) leaf, (5) Eden, (6) and grief (6
all have the same reoccurring vowel sound of long e. This similarity in sounds causes the
words and lines to have a more natural flow as the words come off of the tongue. The
reoccurring long e sound also ensures a feeling of dread, through its heavy sound.
Commented [mb1]: Should have elaborated more on
what this is.
Commented [mb2]: Should have mentioned the couplet
structure that is built with the rhymes.
Commented [mb3]: There is much more to rhyming than
simply just the sound.
Commented [mb4]: This phasing is too informal for an AP
essay and does not fully explain result of the presence of
the assonance
Commented [mb5]: This phrase sounds much more
proper and should probably take place of the phrase before
it.
Branham 2

Frost delves into even more musical devices with alliteration and consonance. Her
hardest hue to hold (2) has alliteration in full effect due to the letter h at the start of the
majority of the words words in this line. Alliteration is also evident in: So dawn goes down to
day (7) with dawn (7), down (7), and day (7) all beginning with the letter d.
Consonance is then apparent in Her early leafs a flower (3) with the letter l repeatedly
placed. Having the same purpose of purely wanting to add flow and unity to the poem,
alliteration and consonance were used. The musical devices add aesthetics to the raw idea.
Aside from the vast use of musical devices, Frosts poem relies on connotation to be
properly interpreted. The word first implies newness, originality, pureness and innocence.
The word green has the similar meaning of newness as well as growth, and life. Gold then
having the connotations of warmth, richness, power, strength and perfection. Therefore when
written, Natures first green is gold Frost is referring to new life, Natures first green (1), and
its beauty is gold (1), and setting the grounds for a developing allegory.
Frost next refers to Nature (1) as Her (2), personifying nature in a feminine way,
perhaps suggesting that nature is a pure and delicate thing and the mother to the green (1).
Early (3) is used entailing the same feelings of newness and innocence that first (1) does
previously in the poem. Flower (3) is used, once again creating a feminine and soft image of
fragile blooming beauty. The first three lines of the poem consist of words with connotations of
strong beauty yet feminine delicateness.
However, once But (4) is said, the tone shifts as the speaker is preparing for something
opposed to the strength and beauty that has been discussed. But only so an hour (4) is the
poems way of saying that the beauty of new life cannot last forever. The allegory continues.
Each day in nature is representative of a human life. People are born as miraculous innocent
Commented [mb6]: Typo!
Commented [mb7]: Using the poor word choice of flow
once again.
Commented [mb8]: This whole sentence should be re-
written to sound more appropriate for the work of an AP
senior.
Commented [mb9]: This sentence is about half the
length as the previous, yet capture the point of the
paragraph much better.
Commented [mb10]: Does the poem really rely on
connotation? This is an opinionate statement, therefore it
does not properly help analyze.
Commented [mb11]: Dont end a paragraph with quotes.
Also, elaborate on with the allegory is of: the loss of
innocence.
Commented [mb12]: If there are similar meanings in
different lines and/ or words, what is the significance in the
meanings being presented multiple times, but with different
words.
Commented [mb13]: Why is there not an indention right
here?
Commented [mb14]: prepares
Commented [mb15]: Poems cant talk.
Commented [mb16]: This sentence adds some diversity
to the syntax but is it necessary. Of course the allegory
continues because that is what they do; they exist
throughout entire pieces of work.
Branham 3

creatures, they are birthed gold (1). They are the green of the earth with their fresh skin and
newness to world. However, the second the word But (4) is mentioned, a contrary, much more
harsh reality is about to be explored.
When the speaker starts the next line with then (5), it makes it sound as the loss of the
flower (3) is a routine that the speaker knows absolutely too well, and what is about to follow
is simply just the next step of what usually follows. The allegory, that is the poem, is perhaps an
experience that the speaker has experienced many times: the loss of innocence and youth.
Leaf [subsiding] to leaf (5) is representative of a person growing older. Frost chooses
to repeat the word leaf (5) as if it is not subsiding to become something less that is completely
different, but perhaps only becoming what it was always meant to be, and always actually was.
This could also be said for a young child. A baby is not meant to live a life that is sheltered for
eternity, but to grow older and gain intelligence and through this, eventually their innocence is
wiped away by life somehow. Examining further, Eden (6), alluded from The Garden of Eden
from the Bible, which crafts imagery of Gods creation in the form of nature. Frost
personalizes Eden (6) like he does Nature (1). Frost makes Nature (1) and Eden (6)
interchangeable as the giver of life and care taker. Allegory wise, Nature (1) is the mother that
births a beautiful baby, and Eden (6) is the protective attached father that breaks at the
inevitable growing up of his child. Therefore, as leaf subsides to leaf (5) and children grow
into own, dawn goes down to day (7) as their fathers have no choice but to accept the change
that their new baby is no longer a child, but a gown independent adult. Parents of a child enjoy
every moment of it because the child will grow and experience tragedy and their idea of a perfect
world fades, because Nothing gold can stay (8). Gold (8) is lost just as the childs youth.
Commented [mb17]: So, what? What is the significance
of that?
Commented [mb18]: This part of the sentence is
awkward sounding and poorly worded.
Commented [mb19]: Change to The allegory of this
poem,
Sounds better
Commented [mb20]: Finally the significance of it all!
Commented [mb21]: Poor way to start a sentence.
Commented [mb22]: Is the poem only about the loss of
innocence or just growing old physically too, and then
eventually dying?
Commented [mb23]: Could have elaborated more on the
allusion to the Bible, would have been interesting. There is
a lot more that could have gone into that.
Commented [mb24]: Word this better perhaps say
something simpler just like and children grow up
Commented [mb25]: May want to end the paragraph in
a way that summarizes the entirety of the paragraph and
not just about the gold.
Branham 4

Robert Frost is able to convey an experience of loss through a lovely scene of nature. He
turns something sorrowful and makes it beautiful. The use of musical devices create an exquisite
flow to his idea. The connotation as well contributes to the greatness of the poem that is all
compacted into a relatable allegory.

Commented [mb26]: Theres that flow again!
Commented [mb27]: Restate the thesis statement better
and more in depth for the closing.
Commented [mb28]: Would elaborate more in the
conclusion and add more detail.
Branham 5

Works Cited
Frost, Robert. "Nothing Gold Can Stay." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 08
Mar. 2014.