Poetry

DESIGN BY ROBERT FROST Your Surname Page 1

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Design by Robert Frost

In the grand scheme of things designed by God and nature , we often find that mother nature , as exquisite as she is , possesses a certain formidable quality . Frost wrote this ironic and rather daunting poem regarding the hurtful aspect of God 's design , as lovely as it may be

Regarding the diction , or word choice that Frost employs , note his repetitive inclination toward

the color white in the first three lines . The spider , he describes as dimpled , fat and white , sitting on a white heal-all flower , which was a deliberate choice on his part , since heal-all flowers are in reality blue . He even goes so far as to compare the moth that the spider is holding up to a white piece of rigid satin cloth , much like the fabric of a bridal dress . The color white is commonly known as a symbol of impeccability , chastity and purity . His choice of words , or color , for that matter , portrays a picture of flawless serenity , yet somewhat eerie , being that in most cultures spiders are considered a symbol of evil and somewhat appalling . Also his reference to the moth as being held like a stiff piece of cloth gives us a picture of death , since death is often associated with stiffness and rigidity . The words adopted by Frost in the next few lines become more explicit regarding the sinister nature of the scene . His usage of words like death and blight , dead wings , ingredients of a witches broth , all come together to lend a morbid and a markedly ominous quality to the poem . Frost then goes Your Surname Page 2

on to question the coincidence of a heal all flower posing as a white flower , along with a white spider , who employs the flowers assistance in climbing to the top and being camouflaged by its color , deceiving the innocent white moth

Moving onto the syntax , which is , the word of this poem , we note that Frost has allowed himself a certain amount of freedom while writing it . The general word of the sentences and phrases in the poem follow the pattern of subject-verb-object . Take the first few words for example , I found a dimpled spider , fat and white . I ' being the subject , found ' being the verb , and spider ' being the object . This is the most commonly used word in the English language and is easily understood by the masses . That may well be the reason that this is the Frost adopted for most of his poems to reach out to the masses . He does , however , at the end of the first line , add adjectives fat and white , lending to it a more rhythmic and poetic feel . The general word of the entire poem is easy to read , almost what most of us would consider layman 's English , lending to it a smooth flowing...