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.
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.
This is one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost. I was initially drawn to this poem because nature’s first green is one of my favorite colors and each year as the world turns green; I find its words springing from my tongue. But at the same time I hesitate because it’s also rather morbid with its focus on how life sinks towards death on decay.
It’s as if the poem contains polar opposite concepts. But then, I think about what my husband said the last time I referred to two concepts as being polar opposites. “They are more like two sides of the same coin. Rather than contradicting each other, they express two sides of the same idea.”
That makes me rethink my feelings on the poem being about death and decay and I come to the realization that it is more about the cycles of life. Every beautiful season of life dies and rebirths itself into a new beautiful season. With God each season carries its own beautiful colors.
I smile. Glad that my heart can still wholly embrace the beauty and rhythm of this wonderful poem.
My List:
267. The brilliant green of spring leaves.
268. The storytelling committee.
269. Storytellers.
270. Most of my students with green behavior cards at the end of the day.
271. Flowering trees.
272.The scent of freshly mown grass.
273. The anticipation of lilacs blooming.
274. The brilliant green river reflection of a tree leafing in spring.
275. The unexpected floral scent that causes me to look around to find it.
276. Celebrating my husband’s birthday with friends.
277. Knowing his word is true and he will perform it.
278. The wispy tresses of a cirrus cloud.
279. The brilliant shades of spring green.
280. The first scent of lilacs.
281. Attempting to capture the shapes of trees.
282. The thickly red-blossomed branches of a crabapple tree.
283. The park across the river.
284. The pink reflection of a crabapple tree in the river.
285. A blue and white bespeckled cumulonimbus sky.
286. The moon and the stars adorning the night.
287. The first shoots of rhubarb making their way up out of the soil.
288. The first-year blossoms of our Honeycrisp apple tree.
289. The splash of a fish in the river.
290. Perfectly seasoned Chile Soup.
291. Foods sweetened with honey and molasses.
292. . . .
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