The text suggests that mankind should evaluate how they treat both their own species and the environment. This evaluation may uncover unsettling realities that could motivate individuals to alter their actions. The poem is narrated by an unidentified speaker, whose gender remains unknown, as they describe a brief encounter with a famished spider. In the initial stanza, the speaker seems to address the reader directly while retelling the tale.
The second stanza of the poem presents a contemplative tone and is visually distinct from the first stanza. In this section, the speaker ponders on the flower’s significance within its surroundings and attempts to understand the aspect of nature that has captivated him. The spider is portrayed as triumphantly displaying a moth it has conquered, demonstrating its dominance and pride. The moth is described as motionless like a stiff white satin fabric, symbolizing both its lifelessness as an insect and its resilience against the spider’s assault.
Despite being delicate and soft, the moth’s vulnerability to the spider’s attack suggests that it had little chance of defending itself and its demise was inevitable. The spider may have achieved a physical victory by capturing its dinner, but there is a moral aspect to consider, a uniquely human phenomenon. This scenario mirrors the behavior seen across all stages of human life, where the strong often oppress the weak.
The text suggests that nature and human culture have been designed by a higher power to establish a system where survival of the fittest prevails, as indicated by the title “Design” and its reference in the final line. This arrangement is considered the natural order of things. The speaker’s tone in the iris stanza, consisting of eight lines in this 14-line sonnet, is one of pride. The speaker empathizes with the spider’s struggle to survive in an environment filled with predators and prey. While the spider stands on a plant known as a “heal-all,” there is no possibility of healing for the moth’s death.
The speaker effortlessly carries the dead moth back to his lair, likening its lightness to that of a paper kite. This emphasizes the delicate nature of the prey and the ease with which it was killed. Additionally, the speaker observes a disorganized mix of creatures that begin their day by intermingling. This is compared to the ingredients of a witches’ broth, which is not fully dissolved or integrated but rather partially suspended. When stirred, these individual components bounce off each other, combining and relating in countless variations, some meant to survive and others not.
Just as people venture into a potentially hostile society, their well-being is dependent on the principle of the Golden Rule: treating others as they would like to be treated. Although the poem follows the structure of iambic pentameter, there are subtle instances where slight deviations occur.
For instance, there are 14 lines that consist of 10 syllTABLEs each, except for lines 6, 7, and 11. In these lines, the reader must either quicken the pace to fit two words into one beat of the meter or pronounce the two-syllTABLE word “flower” as one syllTABLE (“flower”). The use of alternating stressed and unstressed syllTABLEs is slightly altered in certain lines, resulting in two unstressed words pronounced in succession (“On a…” on line 2, and “Like” on line 3). Then, a few beats later, either a very slight pause or two stressed words restores the meter for the remainder of the line.
The use of a blank space between lines eight and nine creates a pause for a change of focus and tone. It transitions from the prideful and chaotic struggle of the interacting creatures in the first stanza to the thoughtful introspection of how the scenario fits into all of life in the second. The rhyme scheme of the first eight lines follows an A 8 B A pattern. However, the second stanza deviates from this pattern with an almost random arrangement of A C A A C C. This creates a slight disharmony in conjunction with the overall tone of the work.
The deviations found in the poem contribute to a sense of chaos or instability during character interactions. They also make the poem more readable as prose by preventing a monotonous and dull rhythm, and they offer each reader a unique experience of the poem. Frost utilizes alliteration in various lines to strengthen the significance of those lines, such as “Heal-all” and “holding” in line 2, a double-word alliteration of “mixed ready” and “morning right” in line 5, and “carried” and “kite” in line 8.
The difficult-to-say “h” sound in the words “heal-all” and “holding” (line 2) serves as a representation of the struggle between the spider and moth in their fight for survival. Moreover, a number of the alliterations in this poem consist of harsh sounds that create a sense of motion, thereby reinforcing the meaning of each line. For example, lines 7 include alliterations such as “snow-drop” and “spider,” as well as “flower” and “froth.” Additionally, the use of assonance in line 1, with the long “I” sound present in both “spider” and “white,” along with the short “I” sound in the words “mixed” and “begin” (line 5), contributes to the overall effect. Furthermore, the repetition of the soft “f” sound in both “flower” and “froth” evokes a light and airy sensation.
The word painting in this poem, “Design,” by Frost, connects the words and adds to the poem’s musical quality. Frost uses the image of a forceful spider killing a fragile moth to symbolize the everyday challenges that all people encounter, as humanity is comprised of both strong and weak individuals. His reflection on the flower’s role in the moth’s death due to its allure (in contrast to the spider’s danger) highlights how everything in the environment is interconnected. Each entity fights its own battle while also contributing to the survival of other organisms.
Frost’s intention with his elaborate depiction of the human condition is to encourage individuals to reflect on their conscience and their place in a larger plan. The professor commented on my analysis of the symbolism in the spider and moth emblem in the third paragraph. Additionally, in the fifth paragraph, the professor questioned my choice of the word “random” to describe the rhyme scheme in the second stanza. In paragraph six, the professor praised my perceptive evaluation of the sound strategies.
