The Outsiders
PART 1: PREDICTION
Read just the title of the poem. What general impressions do you have? What do you think it will be
about? What will be the general mood? Why do you think this?
That nothing good can stay for to long before it changes
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.
PART 2: REACTION
What is your overall opinion of the poem? Why?
I did not understand It at all and I think that this poem is very mysterious, I don’t think the author
wanted to make the meaning behind it very clear.
What lines stand out to you most? What does it make you think about?
Nature first green is gold, and nothing gold can stay are the best lines from the poem and the only ones I
understood.
PART 3: CLOSE READ ANALYSIS
What does the color green symbolize?
The first plant that grows.
What does the color gold symbolize?
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
It is beautiful
Who or what does the poem refer to when it says “her”? How do you know?
nature
What type(s) of figurative language do you notice in these lines?
That they refer a lot to other words, for example green is gold.
What do you think the speaker means by “early leaf”?
Aswell the first plant
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
What does a flower symbolize?
A beautiful plant
What comment is the speaker making about time?
Another thing that doesn’t stay forever
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
What does the author most likely mean by “subside”? What tone does this
word create?
That it kills one another
What do you think “Eden” refers to?
The first human on earth
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Why might Robert Frost have decided to make this reference in this poem?
Because he lost everything when he trusted that snake
What mood or feeling does this image create?
A sad one
What is the message that the speaker seems to be communicating here?
Nothing gold can stay.
That nothing good and amazing can stay.
PART 4: DISCUSSION
Why does the author include the word “gold” in the title, line 1, and line 8? What purpose
does it serve?
That gold, means beautiful or amazing also to make a comparison to the first thing in the 1
line
Select the three most important words in the poem. Why did you choose each of these?
(These words do not have to be in order of importance)
Gold, leaf and stay because they are the ones used more and gold and stay are used to say
that things that are very good don’t stay forever.
What feelings or emotions does this poem create? How does the author create this mood?
It is a sad poem that says very sad things, they say that nothing gold can stay and that
created a very sad mood.
What is the theme or message of this poem? Do you agree with it? Why or why not?
I disagree because it a very sad meaning and I think that if you try, good things can stay.
How does the theme or message of the poem connect to Johnny and Ponyboy’s situation in
The Outsiders? What is the context (what is going on in the book at this point? Why is the
poem referenced at this point in the story?
Because they had a good life until it changed and Johnny killed someone. It then became a
very different one and hard one.