Nothing Gold Can Stay By Robert Frost

Almost every middle schooler in America knows the name Robert Frost. While S.E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders a few years after Frost died when Ponyboy recited the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay," both Johnny and the readers felt the impact. Middle schoolers spend weeks dissecting that poem. While a beautiful poem, Frost has many other great poems like "Fire and Ice." Another phenomenal poet is Maya Angelou. She was rising to fame around the time Frost died. Not only was she a poet, but she was also a Civil rights activist. Using her poetry, Angelou was able to fight for social justice. One of her most famous poems, "Still I Rise," is a perfect example of how she used her words to fight for equality. Additionally, the world around Angelou and Frost

Frost was a white man, automatically giving him privileges, while Angelou was a black woman, denying her privileges. In "Fire and Ice," Frost described how passion in a person could end the world, and coldness or hatred can also end the world. On the other hand, Angelou's "Still I Rise" is hopeful, describing how even though people try to destroy her, she rises above. "You may kill me with your hatefulness, / but still, like air, I rise" (Angelou 23-24). Angelou did not allow racists to control her life. She was determined to show her oppressors that they could not win. She rises above the cold hatred of the world and uses her passion for poetry and equality to prove to those people that they do not phase her. Unlike Frost, who did not have to worry about prejudice and racial or sexual inequalities, Maya had to work harder than Frost to start her career and rise to fame. "Some say the world will end in fire, / some say in ice." (Frost 1-2). While Robert Frost only intended to talk about two different personalities, cold and passionate, his poem has many interpretations. Many people believe the world will end in the passion of war, while others assume it will end with the metaphorical war of racism. Maya Angelou used her poetic skills to fight racism. Angelou used her lyrical skills to combat the cold racist world. Angelou used her passion for battling unconscious racism in the