"Design" by Robert Frost

Blog Assignment #1-

Images:
Spider, fat and white, moth, satin cloth, witches’ broth, flower like a froth, dead wings, white, innocent heal-all, night, darkness, design.

The first stanza of this poem describes the image of a spider on a flower waiting for the moth to come. To the spider, the dead wings of the moth are part of being able to eat and survive. This is a part of the spider’s life that is crucial to survival. From the point of view of the moth, this is a dark time because its death is near. The spider may not be aware of the impact it’s actions have on the moth. From this, it is clear that events in our lives cannot just be looked at from our own point of view, but in the larger picture as well. The second stanza explains the two sides of this encounter. When describing the flower that the spider waits upon, encouraging words like white, representing purity, and innocent heal-all are used because the spider is accomplishing the task of surviving. On the other hand, words such as witches’ broth and darkness are used when describing the fate of the moth. The underlying meaning of this poem is revealing that the simple designs of aspects in our lives can be both helpful to some but catastrophic to others. It can teach us that parts of our every day lives can affect others without us being aware of it. We should not only be aware of the details in our lives, but also how it relates to others in the big picture. In parallel with the Robert Frost’s poem, the spider understood the details of its own situation without being aware of the impact on the moth. Everything in life has a purpose that we can learn from and grow from. In our own lives, we must always be aware that even the smallest things in life have its own story and train of events that may occur afterwards.