DESIGNS
Robert Frost
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.
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.
Instead of thinking in terms of black and white, we have to consider the infinite shades of gray along with every other color in existence.
The poet is known for his dark and modern take o universal themes such as existence of God. Designs is no exception.As a whole, the poem is about wrestling with a spiritual question: Does God really watches over us? It is a poem of finding evil in innocence.
all these obvious elements are the physical bones of the whole building, the ones we can readily see. But what about the holes in between? Let's shift our focus just a tad. What is not being said in this poem?
At first we hear the cheerful observant walker "I found a dimpled.." but in "spider" the voice betrayed itself and in "fat" and "white" the dimpled creature appeared less charming. The first line of the poem developed a joke in tone and image that grows into a joke of another sort.
The joking developed gradually through a series of contradictory pictures. A white heal-all, being a medicinal plant, suggest purity and safety. A satin-white moth has it's charms too, a party-going creature. The "rigid satin cloth" also showed a contradictory picture.
The poem depicts a spider preying on a moth. frost uses this image as a metaphor for the World made in God's image and the evil that seems to have infiltrated it. The first stanza begins innocently enough. There is no underlying meaning to it, just the speaker happen to stumble upon a dimpled spider. The use of the word "rigid" begins to shift the tone of the poem. The poem becomes darker in the next line "assorted character of death and blight". Here, the spider is the main character with evil intentions. The comparison to a "witch's broth" furthers the evil connection.
The second stanza reveals the underlying meaning. It asked three questions: "What had that flower to do with being white,the wayside blue and the innocent heal-all? What brought the kindred spider to that height, then steered the white moth thither in the night? What but deigns of darkness tom appall? If design governs a thing so small.." These questions boil down to the meaning of the poem. How can evil exist in a world if i it's entirety is governed by by God? The spider initially described as white, the color of innocence reveals to be wicked.
This white spider on a white heal-all is a metaphor for the evil that is tarnishing the world. The white heal-all is a metaphor for the world, the moth being included in this supposedly innate innocence, while the spider represents the vicious ill will hidden within it. Frost ultimately asks whether God could really be governing the actions of this spider, a minutia in the world as a whole. If God is not governing these workings of the spider, who is to say that God governs and oversees the workings of people? The spider and the moth then both represents the people in the world, the flower representing the earth. This idea begins to counter all the notions that God is watching us, perhaps He is not really looking over our every action. People are minute in his eyes as the spider: something to be overlooked.
Frost's poetry tends to portray man as a helpless pygmy in front of the huge might and complexity of the world that surrounds him. Man can neither look far nor deep enough to understand and make sense of the incomprehensible complexity and design that pervades & permeates the world. Expecting evil at dark places alone is being naive. One may be caught unaware even at the most unexpected places. Think not that black is the lone color representing evil as white too has the power to disturb & startle you unexpectedly.
Designs is a frightening poem, one that confronts the dire possibility that the universe is not only godless, but that God is evil.
Reference:
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/design/
http://studentacademichelp.blogspot.com/2010/10/critical-analysis-of-robert-frosts.html
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