Robert Frost

Week 11: Literary Response

"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 go grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay."
-Robert Frost

Robert Frost was born in San Francisco on March 26, 1874.  He moved out to New England and eventually attended both Dartmouth and Harvard, but never earned a formal degree.  For his poetry, he earned four Pulitzer Prizes and many other honors.  Most of his work was inspired by beautiful life and landscape of New England. 

A notable use of this poem was in the movie The Outsiders. Ponyboy recites this poem to Johnny as they glance out and look out over the sunset.  This poem reflects how beautiful nature is.  However, just like the sunset that the boys were watching in the film, the beauty of nature is often evanescent. 

It's important for students to appreciate how fleeting nature is.  By understanding how fragile nature can be, students can appreciate how important it is to protect it.  

Having students analyze poetry is an important literary skill.  While they are analyzing poetry, they can also be learning other skills.  Poetry analysis can easily be interdisciplinary, and one of the subject areas I plan on integrating is environmental education.  Students can gain an appreciation for nature through literature.