Need up w/ this quote =]?

Question

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....its a quote from the movie "the ousiders" but i never understood it fully..can anyone explain it a little bit to me =]

Answer 1

Ummm...maybe nothing good stays for long and we all face difficulties at least once? I DON'T KNOW!! =S

Answer 2

yea, it's the law of deminishing returns. once things are at their best, they'll never get any better.

some might see this as negative to think that the best things (the first green leaf of spring) is the best it's ever going to get, but it can also be positive, like many of the poet's who wrote at the time. part of their point was live in the moment of your youth...you don't have to wait to experience life, because there's no better time then now (carpe diem, sieze the day)

Answer 3

Robert Frost! =)

He means like...hmm, how to explain...

I interpret it like this: nature is Adam and Eve(from the Bible), and gold is symbolic of perfection.  It's kind of showing that they were perfect because that is how God created them, and then they sinned so (the garden of) Eden "sank to grief" as it says, meaning the sin caused imperfection.  Then the last line saying "nothing gold can stay" just means that things are not always perfect or the way you want them to be.

People can interpret poetry in many different ways, that is just my opinion.

Answer 4

The first day of spring is the best, but it's a fleeting beauty.

Before you know it, those perfect mornings turn into August Arizona days.

Or, for more symbolism (in case this is for an English class),

You've seen a woman when she's 18?

That's the best she's going to look.  Ever.