An Analysis Of Robert Frost's Nothing Gold Can Stay

In Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” the speaker proclaims that fame and the things we value last only “an hour” (4). Having lost his wife and children which for him were like gold, Frost comes to the sobering recognition that “Nothing gold can stay” (8). Frost feels plagued by solitude but struggles with distancing himself. Frost’s two poems “Mending Wall” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” both represent Frost’s desire for human connection because of its value. Though it appears that Frost seeks solitude and hates human connection, it is actually the case the Frost values human connection and he expresses a sense of obligation in his poetry. In both “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “Mending Wall,” The speaker attempts
to find solitude. In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” the speaker makes note that the owner of the woods “will not see me stopping here” (3). This knowledge that the owner will not disturb him, gives a sense of comfort to the speaker. Also “stopping here” gives readers a sense that the speaker doesn’t intend on staying in the woods. Solitude that he can be comfortable with is an unreachable goal for the speaker. Once he has found a suitable place to be alone, his horse starts to question the situation. The speaker tries all he can to find to true, raw solitude. In “Mending Wall”, the speaker attempts to create isolation by building walls between him and his neighbor. In this poem the speaker points out there is “one on a side” of the wall they have built between them (22). The speaker uses this wall to display how artificial isolation can be. The speaker illustrates his frustration with the tedious nature of maintaining this “wall” between the speaker and his neighbor. The speaker begins by saying that time makes gaps in the wall “even two can pass abreast”(4). The speaker builds these walls that over time start to fall apart and he has to come to terms with the fact that he can’t maintain this wall forever. The speaker in both of these poems are on a journey to find solitude but either internal forces or fate keep them from being truly alone. Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” the speaker comes to the realization that he has “miles to go before” he sleeps (15).
The speaker seems to search for solitude, as he rides through the woods in search of solitude he realizes his obligations to the things in his life. The speaker thinks of the man who owns the land and that “His house is in the village though” (2). This line highlights that Frost acknowledges that he knows the man who owns the place where he goes to escape. Frost has a sense of acceptance that the solitude he crafted for himself isn’t real. As much as Frost seeks escape he knows that it is illogical and his “horse must think it queer” that he has left society (5). The “horse” in this poem represents the speaker’s sensibilities, the speaker rides into the woods, yet his horse questions what he is doing. The horse questions stopping “without a farmhouse near” the horse is personified by the word “farmhouse” instead of a barn or stable. The horse, being part of the speaker knows it belongs inside and not in the woods. The speaker’s”horse” or in a literal sense his conscience, creates an internal struggle between the speaker’s want for solitude and his involvement in society. As much as the speaker wants to fulfill his self-prescribed solitude he knows that he has “promises to keep” (14). The speaker finds himself conflicted but ends up knowing that his allegiances lie with the world and other
people.
In Frost’s “Mending Wall,” the speaker tries to build a wall to maintain solitude but finally sees it as futile.
The speaker says “we do not need the wall”(23). In a later line the speaker says “He is all pine and I am apple orchard”(24). This line could be portrayed that the speaker doesn’t need the wall because he and his neighbor are so different. The speaker actually wants his neighbor to accept that the wall is unnecessary. The speaker wishes the neighbor could have an epiphany and take the wall down under his own free will. The speaker represents his neighbor as an “old stone savage” because of values when it comes to neighbors(40). The speaker sees his neighbor as a closed-minded puritan, because he can’t accept that the speaker can respect his space and the neighbor can’t see the value of connection. The speaker hopes to challenge the notion that “Good fences make good neighbors”(45). The speaker begins by saying that he actively participates in the rebuilding of the wall, as the poem goes on the speaker sees the discrepancies in the idea of having a wall. The speaker wishes that his neighbor would be able to see for himself that a wall helps no one. Frost seeks isolation but as his life continues and he experiences more, Frost sees the futility of seeking
isolation.
Frost begins his poems solemn and lonely. In the poems above Frost begins by looking for a seemingly unattainable solitude. Frost goes where he assumes no one can find him, yet he can’t get civilization out of his mind. In “Stopping by a Woods on a Snowy Evening”, the speaker goes into the woods and is alone but he thinks of the man who owns the land and his horse can only think of the closest farmhouse. Frost continues this with “Mending Wall”, in this poem the speaker builds a wall between himself and his neighbor. As the poem continues, the speaker realizes that a wall is unnecessary and that he actually wants a relationship with his neighbor. If readers look at Frost as solemn, lonely man they can miss the small details that show Frost as a flawed person who does value connection. Frost hides his real emotions in his writing because he can’t relate his emotions in real life. Frost uses multiple devices to show his true emotions, but if readers read without a critical eye they can miss the true message.