Ponyboy:
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.

Johnny:
Where did you learn that? That's what I meant.

Ponyboy:
Robert Frost wrote it. I always remembered it because I never quite knew what he meant.