Mortality In Robert Frost's Nothing Gold Can Stay

Everyone has had at least one enlightening class that they’ll never forget. A class that, unlike so many others, truly teaches you about life, or in my case, mortality. Mr. Vindetti was my English teacher in junior high: a worldly and highly perceptive individual who expected the absolute best from his students. Junior high school is a blur, so I barely remember what I was taught throughout the years, but I still recall numerous lessons from Mr. Vindetti clearly. One day, after my grueling math class and my absurdly uninteresting history class, it was finally time for the one class I genuinely enjoyed, Advanced English. I walked into class, as usual, and sat down next to Mara, my brilliantly sarcastic seat neighbor. Mr. Vindetti was sitting

That sheet held two wildly amazing, but confusingly contradictory poems. One that would become the single-most thought about piece of literature that I’ve ever read. The first one was “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost. I must confess, the poem’s deeper meaning initially eluded me. “It’s a poem about the color of nature.” I remember Mara replying to his question about what he had understood from our reading. He made us reread it, and then he had us examine the ideas in the poem to try to understand the true meaning of Frost’s words. I could almost physically feel the heat emitted by the light bulb that flashed on in my head when I had finally torn off the flimsy, self-conjured pretense of the poem. It wasn’t specifically about nature or the sky or Eden. It was about the briefness of a number of things, but mostly, it was about life, and how impermanent it

A decade? A century? I, like many others, want to believe that I’m special: a diamond among pearls. I like to believe that others will reminisce about me long after they’ve died. That’s not always the case for everyone. Everybody knows George Washington, the first president of the United States. He was a founding father, who was voted in as president unanimously. He served two terms and was thought to be an exceptional leader who set the precedent for many future presidents to come. There’s not a single person alive who hasn’t heard of Marilyn Monroe. She is a former sex symbol. No, to say Marilyn Monroe is simply a “former sex symbol” isn’t sufficient: it doesn’t adequately emphasize her cultural importance. She was the origin of the “dumb blonde” stereotype and the trailblazer for sexuality in the widely conservative 1950s. She was and is a timeless icon, and she will, therefore, never be forgotten. I don’t mean to say that only spectacular individuals will be remembered after they’ve died. Nevertheless, there will be people who will be remembered because they are extraordinary human beings who have contributed to society is immeasurable ways. Life is ephemeral: one lethargic blink, a single, final breath out, and one last, conscious thought and it’s all over. Despite not being ignorant of the brevity of life, the majority of us give it our all. We know our death is inevitable, so every sweet year of our life