10/1/08

Today was late start--so of course we didn't get nearly enough done. *sigh*

First we took a quiz on the first 75 pages of The Outsiders.

Next we talked about the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay", by Robert Frost.

Nothing Gold Can Stay
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.

To understand the poem, we analyzed it. That means we broke it down into parts to figure out which each part meant, then we put it all back together again to find the meaning of the poem. The first step was to find the metaphors. They are:

Nature's first green is gold
and
Her early leaf's a flower

Next we had to figure out what the metaphors mean. In order to do that, we need to know something about denotation and connotation. We can break those two words into word cells (aha! something useful comes from knowing word cells!). These two words have the same root--notation. So what is a notation? It's a group of symbols used to represent something meaningful. So it can be words, numbers, music, anything that has a group of symbols that are somehow meaningful. For our purposes, we will say a notation is a word.

Next we look at the prefixes--de- and co-. Co- means with and de- means down or minimal. We can put the prefixes with the roots to discover the meaning of denotation is just the word itself while connotation is the word along with other ideas we associate with the word. A simpler way to say it is a denotation is a dictionary definition of a word while a connotation is everything we think about when we hear a word. When we have a metaphor, we look at the connotation of the words being compared.

Let's compare green and gold:

Green
Money
Foliage
Nature
Eco-friendly
New
Jealousy
Sick

Gold
Money
Jewelry
Riches
Warmth
Wealth
Friendliness

We take this a step further by looking at the phrase, "Nature's first green". What is nature's first green? Spring. So how is spring gold? After a long winter, we long for spring. We get so happy when we see the first signs of spring. We have been waiting for this day through months of snow--so it feels like gold to us.

The next metaphor is "Her early leaf's a flower". How is a leaf a flower? Taking on connotations again, a flower is a positive symbol that gives us warm, fuzzy feelings inside. So a leaf is as good as a flower when it's all we have. Or we can take into consideration that some trees flower before they produce leaves. Or we can look at an early leaf. What color is it? Usually a yellow green--not the true green of a leaf. When buds first appear, they are usually indistinguishable from flower buds. When they first open, the edges are ruffled like flowers.

The whole idea is that spring is a new and wonderful time. We all look forward to it, and the new greenery is beautiful to us.

"Her hardest hue to hold" is a good example of alliteration, or the repetition of the first sound of multiple words in a sentence or line. The use of alliteration here makes the line stand out. It also makes the poem more pleasant to listen to. What is the idea of this line? Knowing that hue means color helps. This line goes along with "But only so an hour" to say spring is fleeting. It doesn't last very long. The colors change, we get used to it, life goes on and before we know it, it's fall.

The next device we're looking for is an allusion. Poets often include a reference to a commonly known place, event or character. The idea is that the reader uses his or her background knowledge of the allusion to draw connections to the poem. In this case, the allusion is "So Eden sank to grief". Eden is a reference to the garden of Eden. In the Christian tradition of the creation, the garden of Eden was a paradise that fell into a state of chaos. The paradise was only temporary--just like spring. Most people are familiar with the Christian creation story, so most people would understand that Frost is making an indirect comparison of the garden of Eden to spring time.

The last line, "Nothing Gold can stay", finalizes the idea. We can't hang on to spring forever. Fall will also end the golden springtime. Winter kills it altogether. Spring is temporary, but while it lasts, it's golden.

Now we have to put it all back together and decide what it means to us. Can we apply this interpretation to other ideas, other cycles? When we read about Johnny and Ponyboy tomorrow, we find out that they aren't just talking about spring time when they talk about this poem. We find out they are talking about other beginnings. They are talking about the newness of anything state of being. They are especially talking about youth. The idea is that when you are young, you are full of hope for the future. Everything is wonderful, and you can become anything in the world. But as you age, you lose that optimistic outlook on life. You become jaded by all the bad things that are happening in your world around you.

Sounds pretty pessimistic, doesn't it? Let's see how it all pans out in The Outsiders. We may find more meaning in the poem as the story progresses.