Design by Robert Frost

Q. Critically explain the poem Design by Robert Frost.

‘Design’ was initially published in 1916 in Frost’s collection Mountain Interval. This collection features many of Frost’s most notable works and marks a significant phase in his poetic career.

It is a famous poem by Robert Frost that shows rural life and his command of American colloquial speech.

Stanza and Meter

‘Design’ is a sonnet, a poetic form that Frost used throughout his career. This particular poem is an Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet, which is characterized by an octave (eight lines) followed by a sestet (six lines).

The rhyme scheme is typically abbaabba for the octave and can vary in the sestet; in “Design,” it is acaacc.

The poem uses iambic pentameter, a meter in which each line typically contains five iambs (an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable).

This meter is standard in English poetry and is particularly associated with the sonnet form.

Explanation of Design by Robert Frost

Stanza 1

I found a dimpled spider, fat and white,
On a white heal-all, holding up a moth
Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth–
Assorted characters of death and blight
Mixed ready to begin the morning right,
Like the ingredients of a witches’ broth–
A snow-drop spider, a flower like a froth,
And dead wings carried like a paper kite.

 I found a dimpled spider, fat and white

The poem opens with the speaker discovering a spider that is unusually white and fat.

The dimpled adjective gives the spider a touch of innocence or benign appearance, contrasting with its predatory nature.

 On a white heal-all, holding up a moth

The spider is on a heal-all, a plant known for its medicinal properties, which is also described as white.

The typical colour of a heal-all is blue, making the white colour noteworthy. The spider is holding a moth which suggests a recent capture.

 Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth

The moth is compared to a piece of white satin cloth, emphasizing its delicate and lifeless state.

The use of rigid contrasts with satin’s typically soft and flexible nature, highlighting the moth’s death.

Assorted characters of death and blight

This line introduces a darker theme, referring to the spider, moth, and heal-all collectively as symbols or agents of death and decay.

“Blight” is a disease or condition that causes decay and destruction, particularly in plants. It is commonly associated with sudden and severe damage or deterioration.

 Mixed ready to begin the morning right,

This line injects irony, as mornings are typically associated with beginnings and freshness, yet they start with a death scene.

It also suggests a perverse readiness, as if these elements naturally come together.

In the phrase “begin the morning right,” “right” is an adverb describing how the morning has begun.

Like the ingredients of a witches’ broth

“Like” introduces a simile, a figure of speech that compares two things to suggest a likeness.

Here, the elements in the scene the white spider, the white moth, and the white heal-all — are likened to ingredients in a witch’s broth.

The reference to a “witches’ broth” conjures images of witchcraft and the supernatural.

Such broths are often depicted in literature and folklore as concoctions made with various, sometimes bizarre or unsettling, ingredients. This association adds a sense of the sinister or the unnatural to the scene.

A snow-drop spider, a flower like a froth,

“Snowdrop” commonly refers to a small, white flower known scientifically as Galanthus.

These flowers are among the first to bloom in late winter or early spring, often appearing while snow is still on the ground, which is how they get their name.

Snowdrops have a distinctive appearance with drooping bell-shaped flowers, usually with three larger outer petals and three inner petals that are smaller and often have green markings.

Froth

Froth is the light, airy collection of bubbles you might see on top of a liquid, like the foam on a cappuccino or the bubbly waves at the beach.

It is delicate, ephemeral (short-lived), and very light, almost ethereal.

Comparison to a Flower

By comparing the flower to froth, Frost is likely emphasizing its delicate and transient nature. It suggests that the flower is light, airy, and possibly fragile, like a layer of froth.

 And dead wings carried like a paper kite.

The wings are referred to as “dead,” emphasizing that the moth is no longer alive. The use of “dead” highlights the moth’s stillness and lifelessness.

Frost compares these lifeless wings to a paper kite. A paper kite is light, fragile, and floats or flies in the air.

Stanza 2

What had that flower to do with being white,
The wayside blue and innocent heal-all?
What brought the kindred spider to that height,
Then steered the white moth thither in the night?
What but design of darkness to appall?–
If design govern in a thing so small.

What had that flower to do with being white,

Frost begins the sestet with a rhetorical question about the heal-all flower, which is usually blue. The whiteness of the flower in this scene is unusual and prompts the speaker to question its significance or role in the larger scheme of things.

The wayside blue and innocent heal-all?

This line reiterates the typical color (blue) and the conventional perception of the heal-all as “innocent.” It contrasts with its role in the scene, where it seems part of a deadly tableau.

What brought the kindred spider to that height,

The poet continues with another question, pondering what led the spider to this flower. “Kindred” here may suggest a connection or similarity between the spider and the flower, possibly in their uncharacteristic whiteness or their role in the death scene.

Then steered the white moth thither in the night?

The speaker questions what guided the moth to the same location.

Using “steered” implies a deliberate force or direction, adding to the sense of a possibly predetermined design behind this convergence.

What but design of darkness to appall?–

The phrase “design of darkness” suggests a deliberate arrangement or pattern that is sinister or malevolent. “Darkness” here symbolizes something ominous or evil.

“To appall” means to shock or horrify. Frost suggests that the only explanation for the scene he has described (the white spider on the white heal-all with the dead moth) is a disturbing, dark design in nature that is shocking or horrifying design.

Frost is not necessarily expecting an answer to this question. Instead, he uses it to express his contemplation or wonder about the possibility of a darker force or plan guiding the events in nature.

If design govern in a thing so small.

In this context, “design” refers to a purposeful plan or pattern. An intentional arrangement or guiding force might be behind the events and objects in the natural world.

The word “govern” here means to control or direct. Frost contemplates whether a deliberate design dictates how things happen, even in the smallest details of nature.

‘A thing so small’ refers to the scene Frost describes in the poem—a spider on a flower holding a dead moth.

He is considering whether a small, seemingly insignificant natural event could be part of a larger, intentional design.

This line raises a philosophical question about the existence of order or purpose in the universe. Frost wonders whether even the minute aspects of nature are controlled by some design or occur randomly.

It is a contemplation of whether there is a meaningful pattern in the natural world or if events happen without any specific reason or purpose.