Imagery and Interpretaion of "Design"

In Robert Frost’s “Design” there are many images that can be pulled from the text despite the poem’s relatively small size. Firstly it starts off with a “dimpled spider, fat and white” which is one of the dominant images in the poem along with the white moth caught by the spider. Another image following the same motif of color is the white heal-all upon which the spider has caught the moth. Additionally, there are images of “death and blight” and a “witches’ broth” coupled to the image of the morning. These images are a bit more under the surface however.

One thing that I noticed in these images however was the ironic nature of the pairings. The scene of the spider catching the moth is coupled with the color white throughout, which is a bit ironic and gives a bit of a mixed signal to the reader. After all, white is primarily associated with purity and good, yet in this poem it goes as far as to talk about death and blight. Even the spider is white, which also conflicts with the general image of one, as most people imagine spiders stereotypically as black or some other dark color. Also the poem presents the image of morning which conflicts with the witches’ broth line and the mention of death. Normally these are associated with the dead of the night.

These conflicts serve the authors purpose however. In the poem he reverses traditional imagery and symbolism, which causes us to take note of that fact and ask why. In the last line it says, “What but design of darkness to appall? – If design govern in a thing so small.” He finishes the poem with such a cryptic statement leaving it a bit open-ended for the reader. His imagery’s mixed signals lead the reader to ponder why he breaks with the norm and the last two lines lead the reader to wonder at how far the limits of “design” really extend. From this point of view the poem can be interpreted as using clashing images in order to cause the reader to question “design” and even the poem itself.

As for the pictures, I chose the spider because it is one of the most obvious symbols, and the witches brew picture because it too has a bit of irony and mixed signals just like the poem.

Picture sources:Witches brew-http://api.ning.com/files/K5EyQbUmZFAvdsKsyPWWK77z2PAhbVanSXsZ*c4Z9RbOCt5B1krcXgR2ruS1mefNwX87no1p9h6XzJWuEcFXaCLgregan0sg/WitchsBrew.jpg

Spider-http://bibleforums.org/forum/customavatars/avatar26242_1.gif