The Outsiders

The following poem by Robert Frost is what Ponyboy recited to Johnny when they were watching the sunrise. At the end of the novel, Johnny interprets the poem and tells Ponyboy to “stay gold.” Read the poem and interpret it for yourself. Explain in a short paragraph and illustrate.

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.