All That is
Gold Does Not Glitter
J.R.R
Tolkien
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All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.**
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.**
**The last two lines refer to a specific sword and character from
the novel, The Lord of the Rings :The
Fellowship of the Ring. In your responses, please focus on the first
six lines.
What is the meaning of the poem? Think
particularly about the first line.
Make a connection between the meaning of the
poem and a character from The
Outsiders. Who could this poem apply to from the book and why?
"Not all those who wander are lost": a powerful line from the poem All That Gold Does Not Glitter. The characters in The Outsiders seem like they do wander, especially the Greasers. They seem to be lost souls without a purpose, trying each to find something to fill that void. Johnny seems to find it, by saving Pony from dying, and then the innocent children.
ReplyDelete1,"All that is gold does not glitter" means that nothing good can stay. It can also relate to the idea that not all those who have it good, have everything. In "The Outsiders" the meaning mostly relates to the socs. The socs have wealth, popularity, and fancy cars, but what they don't have are lives that are fulfilled.
ReplyDelete2. One character that the meaning mostly relates to is Bob. Bob is a soc who has a blue mustang, and much wealth. Although Bob has these wonderful things, he has some of his own problems. For instance, his parents always give into whatever Bob does. One night Bob even came home completely drunk and his parent blamed it on themselves.Overall, Bob had it good, but he didn't have everything.
I agree with you, Jill, and I have something to add to (1).
Delete"All that is gold does not glitter": I think that it means that all that is "gold" may not appear so on the outside. Look up a picture of a geode. The geode is a natural thing of beauty on the inside, and some just leave you speechless. But on the outside, they can even be called ugly: they're brown, rough, and anything but glittery. You could pick up a geode without even knowing and toss it away as worthless. Like that, I think that Tolkien is saying that all that is good, won't appear so - you could pass it/him/her by every day and say they are no one special, ordinary, or even worthless (though that's just plain mean). But a discerning eye may see past the plain, ugly shell, and to the gold within.
Jill...awesome insight on Bob's character; you are absolutely right. Bob did come from a home with two loving parents, but he needed structure, and he didn't get that from home. It shows the truth in "things are rough all over", and everyone has problems....big or small...
ReplyDelete(1) This poem is similar in meaning to the "Nothing Gold Can Stay" poem in the Outsiders. This is because it means in the world there is no perfect, and even if there is a moment where the world is close to perfect, that moment will be gone just as soon as it came.
ReplyDelete(2) I think that this can best be connected with Cherry, because despite her pampered life that includes a fancy car and lots of money; it also goes along with a murdered, alcoholic boyfriend, troubles in school, and having to witness the repurcussions of gang violence in her community every day.
Abby Panikian
ReplyDelete"All that is gold does not glitter". This reminds me of a quote that I particularly enjoy, "Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted." This relates to the quote as they are speaking of the same thing. That is the fact that not all material items can bring oneself joy and fulfillment in life. Granted, they might make somebody happy for a short period of time, but after a while that happiness will wither away. Whereas things like friendship and family cannot be given a price and will always last. This quote can relate to the socs and how they live, and the greasers. Bob, a soc that lived with fancy cars and a good home, turned out to be a bad kid. This is because, just like the quote i referenced earlier, what he has can be counted, but doesn't count in his life. He grew up in a good home with fancy cars, but his parents loved him too much. He never had someone tell him no. No matter what he did wrong, his parents always blamed themselves. On the contrary, Ponyboy, a greaser that grew up in a home where both of his brothers dropped out of school to support him, had more genuine love and support in his life than Bob ever did. He may not have gold, but even his rust can glitter. However, Bob has gold that is dull and lifeless. The poem shows both sides of a situation, one where someone can experience pure joy, and the other where someone lives of fake happiness and things bought in a store.
For your enjoyment :3 Brooks Williams- All That is Goldhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2HdmWIXJco
1, "All that is gold does not glitter" means that even if something appears to be perfect in your mind, it doesn't mean it's perfect in someone else's. For example, if your best friend's life seems perfect to you; it seems like they always get what they want but, in reality, you may only see the good things about their lives. They may have struggles that they just don't like to talk about.
ReplyDelete2, I would make a comparison between this poem and the three Curtis brothers. I say this because if you didn't really know anything about the three brothers you would think their lives are pretty good. They all get to live in the same house and they all rarely get into any significant trouble. To contrast, people that don't really know them also wouldn't know about any of the struggles they have at home. Sodapop and Darry work so hard to pay the bills and to keep Ponyboy in school, it probably becomes very tiring. Let along all the housework Darry has to do after he works during the day. I believe this poem should be compared to the three Curtis brothers because their lives seem almost perfect until you really understand the struggles they have gone through since their parents died in an auto crash.
1.) I think this poem means that wealth is not everything. I think this because "all that is gold does not glitter" says that not everything that is good is riches. 2.) A character I connect this poem with is Cherry.I choose Cherry because as a soc she has wealth, but she thinks that not everything good has to do with wealth. For example her liking sunsets. ~ Rebecca Roy
ReplyDelete1) I think the meaning of the poem is that just because something seems to be some way does not mean it really is. For example, in the poem it says "Not all that wander are lost." Even though you may think wanders are lost, they might not be.
ReplyDelete2) A good character would be Johnny, because even though everyone thinks Johnny is a quiet, skittish kid, he is really a brave, out going person. An example of this is in chapter 8 when he makes Pony leave the church before him after saving the kids.
1) I think the meaning of the poem is, things aren't always as they appear or as people think they should be. For example, just because something is gold doesn't mean that it is glittery.
ReplyDelete2)Ponyboy is a greaser and greasers have a bad reputation, where people think they are all bad. People look at him like he is worthless and a trouble maker. However, Ponyboy is different then other greasers because he likes things like book, movies and he doesn't cause trouble. Just because he is a greaser doesn't mean that he behaves like a greaser
This is one of the best poems I have read in a long time.
ReplyDelete1.
So much can be read into this poem. "All that is gold does not glitter" means that all that is "gold", good, may not seem so on the outside. He/she/it may be buried under a layer of prejudice, gossip, public opinions, etc, but they may be worth the work to see past the dusty exterior to the interior.
"Not all who wander are lost" is a beautiful line, and to me it means that there is no too far gone. Even if you stray from what is right/what you believe, you are not lost. There is a way back.
2.
I compare this poem (or at least some of the lines in it) to Dallas. Dally is seen as a rough hard, cold character, who Pony thinks can not love, and does not care for anyone but himself. Yet when Johnny talks about turning himself in, Dally's shell breaks away for a moment as he pleads with Johnny not to, saying that he doesn't want Johnny to be hardened in jail like he was in jail and the streets of New York City. Dallas may seem rough, anything but gold, but though he certainly does not glitter, there's a side to him no one ever dreamed of.
1. I agree with Abby P. Having everything money can buy you can't always make you happy. Which is why "all that is gold does not glitter" make sense. Being able to depend on Family and Friends is worth a lot more in life. 2. Ponyboy has his family to rely on and he was a good kid, where Bob's parents loved him but over indulged him and he wasn't a better person for it.
ReplyDelete1. I think the quote "All that is gold does not glitter" is referencing that things aren't always what they appear to be on the outside. The rich people in life do not always portrait a rich character, and the Poor do not always behave poorly.
ReplyDelete2. I think that just because Ponyboy was a greaser it didn"t mean that he was bad, he liked reading and movies and he did good in school. Ponyboy was ultimately rich in life. Bob was a rich Social who was given everything by his parents and he was not a good person despite all of his money so Bob was ultimately poor in life.
1) I agree with Joel's statement about the poem "All that is gold is not glitter" saying that just because something is good for one person, doesn't mean it's good for another.
ReplyDelete2) A character would be Johnny. I agree with Lauren by she saying that Johnny is brave and daring, even though people don't see him this way. Another thing that caught my attention is that the poem is entitled "All that is gold is not glitter" which reminds me of how Johnny says to his fellow greasers "stay gold".
Matt Lacaire
ReplyDelete1. I think this poem means not everything is what it seems physically. I further support this with the line "not all those who wander are lost" This shows that it is never safe to assume, and again, that not everything is as it seems.
2. I connect the idea of this poem, the idea that not everything is what it seems to be physically, to Randy. Randy lost his friend Bob, and when he jumped Pony and Johnny, he tried to look tough. He physically appears tough, but when he talks to Pony after the murder, he is close to tears, which doesn't fit in with the tough image Randy is trying to project.
The line "all that is gold may not glitter" means that things may not as perfect as they seem. The greasers assume that all of the socs have perfect lives because they have cool cars and money. But a soc named Cherry explained to Pony that "things are rough all over." Cherry can connect to this poem because everyone assumes her life is amazing. Shes a cheerleader, she's that girl that the other girls want to be, and she's the girl all the guys want to date. What else could be wrong right? Well, her boyfriend was drunk all the time, before he was killed, and she can't talk to anyone that isn't a soc without being made fun of. If that sounds perfect to you, you might want to look up the definition of perfect.
ReplyDelete