Poetry Project

Design

ROBERT FROST

I found a dimpled spider, fat and white,
On a white heal-all, holding up a moth
Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth --
Assorted characters of death and blight
Mixed ready to begin the morning right,
Like the ingredients of a witches' broth --
A snow-drop spider, a flower like a froth,
And dead wings carried like a paper kite.

What had that flower to do with being white,
The wayside blue and innocent heal-all?
What brought the kindred spider to that height,
Then steered the white moth thither in the night?
What but design of darkness to appall?--
If design govern in a thing so small.

Since this was one of the poems I chose for the poetry project, I got familiar with this work. The first stanza is essentially a description on an event that the speaker witnessed. It's a relatively simple situation; he finds a fat spider, a white flower, and a soft moth, all in one place "like the ingredients of a witches' broth". However, the powerful part of the poem is the second stanza, when the speaker begins to question this event. He asks, "Why is this flower white when it's usually blue? What made the spider eat it? Why is the moth here as well?" These indeed are decent questions to ask, but the last two lines completes the poem most wonderfully. "What but design of darkness to appall?" The speaker states that if design, or a higher power of some sort, exists, then it brought these characters together through bad intention. However, the speaker asks if this design even exists; does it affect everything in life, even all the small things like spiders and flowers and moths? It's a wonderful question the speaker poses, and the fact that he asks it through such a simple event really makes the reader think. What's the reason for anything? Good question.

Environmental Psyche

After our discussion on Friday, I couldn't help but continue to think about how the landscape of a place makes us feel. For Tess, the darkness of the Chase mirrored her mind, as well as the happy environment of Talbathay's mirror how she felt there as well.

But connecting it back to us is interesting itself. I know personally that when I wake up, and it's snowy and overcast outside, I feel like that day will be dreary; just like the sky. On the other hand, if it's sunny and bright, the day seems like it will be promising.

Of course Tess' environments and situations are much different than ours, but it's not such a strange concept that there is a definite connection between the environment and how we feel.

Today is sunny already. It's going to be a fine day.