The Speaker

The poem’s central character is its anonymous speaker, a figure about whom the reader knows little. The speaker narrates the poem, which is written from the third-person omniscient perspective. Third-person omniscient is associated with objectivity and clarity, and as a narration style suggests those qualities of the poem’s unknown speaker. The speaker is observant and realistic, able to comment equally on phases of the natural world’s beauty (“gold”) and transience (“hardest … to hold”) (1-2). The speaker uses simple language and straightforward imagery and allusions, conveying a single-minded, slightly melancholic focus on the poem’s key ideas. The speaker centers natural imagery instead of personal identity, a choice that complements the poem’s precision of imagery and theme.

Nature

Another major character in “Nothing Gold Can Stay” is Nature. The poem anthropomorphizes Nature, gendering it female by repeated use of the pronoun “Her” (2-3). This...