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.
About the headline (FAQ)
Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Authorship:
- by Robert Frost (1874 - 1963), "Nothing gold can stay", appears in New Hampshire, first published 1923 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by William Thayer Ames (1901 - 1987), "Nothing gold can stay", published 1944 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cecil William Bentz (b. 1915), "Nothing gold can stay" [ chorus ], from Two Short Poems by Robert Frost [sung text not yet checked]
- by Alva Henderson (b. 1940), "Nothing gold", 1968, first performed 1970, from A Seasonal Songbook, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Musto (b. 1954), "Nothing gold can stay", from Two by Frost, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Nick Peros (b. 1963), "Nothing gold can stay" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Rick Sowash (b. 1950), "Nothing gold can stay", 1973 [ STB chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rick Sowash (b. 1950), "Nothing gold can stay", 1973 [ mezzo-soprano, unaccompanied ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Pasquale J. Spino (b. 1942), "Nothing gold can stay", published 1971 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by Kate Soper (b. 1943), "So dawn chromatically descends to day", 2018 [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a concert programme booklet
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 40