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Nassir

[Instructor Name]

English 1204

July 2

Contrasting Frost and Shakespeare

The overarching theme of death is prominent, yet powerful, within both pieces of

literature and should be acknowledged when discussing Robert Frost’s “Nothing gold can stay”

and William Shakespeare’s “That time of year thou mayst in me behold”. They both share

similarities on how the overarching topic of death is written about as well as providing some

subtle differences when analyzed through a reflection of characterization, imagery, and structure

within each poem.

The physical structure of the poems might be one of the more contrasting points when

comparing the two. Frost’s work is much more straightforward consisting of shorter lines

forming four rhyming couplets in an AABBCCDD rhyme scheme. He also intertwines the use of

alliteration much more than Shakespeare, whose poetic example in this comparison seems to be

devoid of any, with the most identifiable examples in the first two lines, “Nature’s first green is

gold/ Her hardest hue to hold” (2). Shakespeare, on the other hand, structures his work less

predictably than Frost’s work, creating a rhyming scheme of ABABCDCDEFEFGHGH with

alternating rhyming patterns. He also doesn’t use many other poetic devices, such as

personification or allusions to get his ideas across besides the powerful metaphors which is

present throughout both poems. When analyzing the thematic structure of both poems, it is

important to note that both Frost and Shakespeare structured their poems to mimic the notion of

life. Specifically, both poets create a sense of life in the beginning, with Frost focusing on the
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youthful “green” birth of life writing, “Nature’s first green is gold/ Her hardest hue to hold” (1-2)

and Shakespeare contrasting that sentiment by focusing on the decaying “yellow” leaves and

impending notion of death with, “When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang” (2). However,

much like Frost’s poem was structurally much simpler to digest due to its short lines and less

length, Shakespeare’s poem has a turning point from birth to death where it can actually be

thought of and read as two poems consisting of an octave that deals with life and death, “Death's

second self, that seals up all in rest” (8) and a sestet that deals with the acceptance of death itself,

“This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong/ To love that well which thou must

leave ere long” (13-14), where Shakespeare specifically tries to offer up the idea that in death

love becomes stronger. Furthermore, this poem can be broken down further into three quatrains

that focus on the complexity of life, death, and the inevitability of the end that can’t be escaped,

each building off each other, with a final couplet that emphasizes Shakespeare’s belief in love.

Given the previous points, it can be considered that Shakespeare has the more mature and

thought provoking poem as he captures the more allusive theme of accepting death as part of life,

demonstrated in his final two lines along with utilizing much darker words to evoke the main

idea of death such as “ashes” (10), “expire” (11), “consumed” (12) and “fire” (9).

In regards to the characterization of the two poems, there seems to be a lot more detail up

for analysis when discussing the two poems. The characterization of the authors themselves, or

whoever is narrating, bleeds into their work, and we can see their thoughts and beliefs manifest

and emerge through their respective works. For instance, Shakespeare can divulge some insight

into the narrator through his writing specifically during this passage:

That time of year thou mayst in me behold.

When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang

Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,

Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

In me thou see'st the twilight of such day.

As after sunset fadeth in the west;

Which by and by black night doth take away,

Death's second self, that seals up all in rest (1-8).

One can decipher that Shakespeare characterized the poem as a tale of two halves. Much

like the reoccurring metaphor for life and death, this poem encompasses Shakespeare’s

pessimism as well as his optimism regarding love between its first and second half. He is able to

characterize his own mortality by referring the impending death of himself much like that of

nature’s yearly death in winter in the third line, emphasizing cold and in the following line

referring to sweet singing birds. It may seem that his initial characterization of death may be

naïve, since is comparison of death in relation to nature and that to a human is misleading since

nature dies and is reborn, following a continuous cycle, alluded in Frost’s poem, “Nature’s first

green is gold” (1), when people die it becomes irreversible. This characterization of death does

change toward the end of Shakespeare’s poem however, as the realization of mortality becomes

evident, “That on the ashes of his youth doth lie/ As the death-bed whereon it must expire” (10-

11). Shakespeare’s characterization of death takes a more human centred approach and views it

from the perspective of someone contemplating death and the consequences that surrounds it. In

contrast, Frost’s characterization of death through his poem is much more simplistic and relies

on an overarching metaphor that deals with the underlying concept that anything that ever lived

must also eventually die, he uses a golden leaf as a metaphor for life itself, “Nothing gold can

stay” (8). Perhaps Frost intentionally made his poem much more simplistic than Shakespeare’s as
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it could be more easily digestible for a wider audience or perhaps it was done as a reminder of

the inevitability of death and that the simplistic nature of that idea should not be clouded with

any other words or ideas.

Perhaps the most obvious way in which death is touched upon is through the deep

examples of imagery created by both Frost and Shakespeare in their poems. Frost provides

examples of the idea that nothing, especially if it is considered perfect and beautiful, can last

forever, as such the first green of spring is, “Nature's first green is gold/ Her hardest hue to hold”

(1-2), “Nothing gold can stay” (8). Frost uses personification in this stance by portraying nature

as woman, he ties the concept of death and decay in nature to the eventuality of death that exists

for each living person. With the line “So Eden sank to grief” (6) he continues to reiterate that

notion, this time using a biblical allusion to the famous Garden of Eden, which was a prefect

paradise, Frost is attempting to imply that the notion of nothing good or in this case gold, can

exist and that it is part of a repeating cycle, one that is so long that it spans into the beginning of

human existence itself.

Both poems have a similar tone in that they both, initially, allude to life and the beauty it

beholds but eventually the writing becomes quite bleak with death being an eventuality that

awaits us all. The metaphor of nature representing the cycle of life is quite evident in each poem

as Frost states, “Her early leaf’s a flower/ But only so an hour/ Then leaf subsides to leaf” (3-5).

Shakespeare echoes this metaphor utilizing his very own naturalistic example when explaining

death, “When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang/ Upon those boughs which shake against

the cold/ Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang (2-4). As it’s clearly exemplified

from the lines above, they both share the idea of leaves sprouting and dying as metaphors for life

itself as there is excitement and hope with being born yet it fades as one gets closer to death and
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the realization of what dying means and that death is an eventuality and part of life. Before the

final line, Shakespeare characterizes and emphasizes the unique message of love within the

poem, one that Frost’s poem is devoid of, “This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more

strong” (13) as the idea of the immense strength of a deep-seated spiritual love between two

people only compliments the notion that death is an eventuality in life and that people must

appreciate the loving bound they have while they are alive. The very poignant final lines from

each of their plays also mirror the previously discussed notion as Frost writes, “So dawn goes

down to day/ Nothing gold can stay (7-8) while Shakespeare concludes with, “To love that well

which thou must leave ere long” (14). The use of nature also helps with the main idea of death,

since it acts as a metaphor for the cycle of life and death through the different seasons each poet

covers with Frost’s “green” leaves representing spring birth while Shakespeare’s “yellow” leaves

representing fall and the impending decay and death of life. The most important concept that

both these poems share is the subtle concept that life itself is fleeting and ultimately short, it’s a

cycle of birth and death that repeats and will not change course for any person or leaf and that

death awaits every living organism on the planet and it’s an eventuality that everyone must face.

Through an analysis of characterization, imagery and structure, a careful comparison and

contrast of Robert Frost’s “Robert Frost’s “Nothing gold can stay” and William Shakespeare’s

“That time of year thou mayst in me behold” showcases how both poets and their respective

poems deal with the underlying concept of life and death through the use careful, yet subtle,

metaphors and allusions.

Works Cited