Splendor in the Grass ending explained

What happens

Deanie, steadier after two years in an institution, is about to start a new life with Bill. She visits Bud, now married and farming, and they both see that what they had cannot be recovered. She leaves.

The last image

Deanie drives away from the farm, recalling the Wordsworth lines about finding strength in what remains behind.

Two readings

1 · Quiet defeatTheir love is simply lost, and both settle for smaller lives.

2 · Painful maturityDeanie accepts the loss and finds strength to live on.

What it says

The ending drops melodrama for restraint. Having shown love damaged by other people's fears, the film asks what survives it. Its answer, through the poem, is that loss does not erase what was real, and living on is a strength.