In Robert’s Frost’s “ Design”, imagery is incorporated throughout the poem to help ponder the thought of design through a creator. The three most striking images that Frost applies in his poem seem to be the spider, moth, and heal-all. These images are used throughout the poem to interpret Frost’s uncertainty of whether all three of these objects were placed where they were by design or by natural causes.
A large part of this uncertainty occurs due to the fact that all three of these images are of the color white. Frost wonders how it is possible that a white (normally blue) heal-all plant attracted a white spider, which in turn attracted a white moth . Traditionally, the color white represents light, salvation, innocence, and purity, but in the context of the poem the color white is the harbinger of death (moth) and static. This paradox coincides with Frost’s questioning on whether this encounter is of design or merely incidental. Did the creator of these three things really mean for these events to occur? Further questioning emerges towards the end of the poem when Frost asks “What brought the kindred spider to that height, then steered the white moth thither in the night?”
Furthermore Frost’s uses these images to question whether there is design in such small places. The use of small images (spider, moth, heal-all) helps bring more speculation on whether these seemingly miniscule objects also obtain a set of formal design. By incorporating smaller images, Frost’s begs the reader to question, whether the so-called designer also takes note of the small details in life such as the spider and moth. If Frost were to use the images of a tree, bird, and squirrel, the question on whether design is possible would seem irrelevant due to these being more ordinary occurrences.
The last line of the poem “ If design govern in things so small”, demonstrates Frost’s uncertainty towards the answer he trying to find. In my opinion, Frost seems to be agreeing to the fact that the incident between the three objects occurred by design, but does not know why and how it occurred. Frost seems to also propose that although there may be an ultimate designer, this designer may not know be all loving and may in fact be a designer of darkness.
