Imagery within "Design"

The poem, “Design” by Robert Frost suggests a vision of disarrayed images combined to form a “design”. In line 1-3 lines, “I found a dimpled spider, fat and white/ On a white heal-all…/ Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth”, Frost purposely puts emphasis on the color, “white”. Starting with a white spider, the reader’s focus zooms outward to find the spider’s landing on a white heal-all, and finally, onto the satin cloth, used for a coffin cover and foreshadow of death.

In the process of reading, some contradictions arise due to the author’s descriptions in these first 3 lines. First, spiders, part of the arachnid class, are usually seen to be black, and yet it was added to the jumble of white images for a specific unclear reason. Second, the paradox of a dead month held on a “heal-all” urges the reader to contemplate upon the meaning behind the name of the flower and the reason behind its existence. Both questionable aspects within the images themselves help guide the reader into believing that individual images have no definite boundary or shape in terms of breaking down parts of the whole design.

In lines 4-6, the appearance of hodgepodge words is evident. Vocabularies such as “assorted” (4), “mixed” (5), and “ingredients” (6) brings the reader back from the trance of white purity from previous lines to the term “conglomeration”. The occurrence of phrases such as “death and blight” (4) as well as “witches’ broth” (6) turns towards the other extreme in colors: black. Concurrently, the mood transfers from a gentle light setting into a dark, gloomy atmosphere. From the text, the author suggests the addition of the ominous color joined with the previous compilation of white contributes to the overall effect of a “miscellaneous mess”.

In addition to sight, Frost incorporates a feeling of coldness through the “snow-drop spider” (7). In contrast to the stereotypical “design” as a creative arrangement, the imagery in lines 1-8 contains a jumble of white and black components presented through the 3 characters (spider, moth, and flower) as parts of nature. Seemingly, Frost questions and refers to God in his creations and purpose. The theme of “design” may be interpreted as a criticism on why God had created the “conglomerate” society the way it is and the trivial importance behind such doing.