Robert Frost

 Hello Readers.....

Robert frost is one of the greatest of American poets, whose name is well familiar in India. His images from the New England countryside and his language from New England speech. Although frost’s images and voice often seem familiar and old and his observation have an edge of skepticism and irony his poetry of his poetry helped provide a link between the American poetry of the 19th century and that of the 20th century.

While studying the poem “Design” by Robert Frost our teacher gave us classroom activity to draw a sketch of nature. Anything about nature, whatever we want. All students have drawn their imagination. As I’m not that much good at drawing but I tried to draw a sea, as water, sea and ocean always fascinates me. Here is my drawing of sea.

Robert Frost is one of the most popular and honored poet of America. Robert Gaves called him .The voice of America"Like wordsworth he wrote about incident and situation from common life.

The poet through this poem speaks about the harsh reality of nature. He is not highlighting the only good aspects of nature, but has draws out attention towards the problem and bitter truth about the nature. After readind the poem ones. the following image came in my mind which is totallly different from the above image.

 It is not exactly like sea but I’ve drawn sea only. I know its funny. Well that round in drawing, it is symbol of my dream. I’ve drawn it at bottom because it is trying to float. It doesn’t know how to swim.

Then we have one other task to read “Design” poem and draw something which can show what poem is saying. Design, an Italian sonnet by Robert Frost was published in 'A Further Range' in 1936. Here is my drawing of poem.

Design" by 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.

My interpretation

The poet by using these kind of metaphors assorted the characters of death and blight. In a way he is trying to make moth as a 'tragic hero' and spider as a 'villain'. The intesity of pain was there. All wants to survive, the spider eats moth just to live long.

Poet here choses the white color to justify the title of the poem and to show particular design of nature or of god. To find white spider is rare and to heal-all plants are normally blue but here they are also white and also the moth is white. The whole scene is also looking like white silky cloth. The day is also going to begun. The white color is symbolized is purity, beauty and goodness while day time or morning time also symbolized as life and also hope. But here in this poem the moth died when sun is rising and the white spider doesn’t look pure or good or beautiful. Here poet broke the myth of morning and white color, or may be poet wants to change the perspective and wants to show death is hope of beginning of new life and also wants to beautify death.

The very first line about the white color of spider breaks the archetypal symbol of white which stands for peace and innocence. Here the white spider is totally contrasting character. He is violent, aggressive, can do anything for food. Everytime white is not look beautiful someimes white is more uglier than black. The spider has taken moth's life and proves himself as a fighter.

The poet knows very well that the intensity of pain is always greater than the intensity of happiness. So he was successful in his attempt to attracts the readers towards his poem by drawing the picture of harsh reality, need for survive, fight or killing other for food.

While in next stanza poet asks some questions like what that heal-all flowers have to do with being white because they are normally blue, then what spider is doing at that height. Simply he wants say that if design of god or nature is governed in so small things like this then how terrifying the design of darkness will be?

Here may be Frost wants to tell us that whatever is happening in our life is designed by goodness or darkness. If something terrifying is happening to our life it may be can the design of darkness and if something good happens to us it may can be the design of goodness.

Therefore the poem Design is not something about beautiful design, but a design of darkness, death. The designed web of spider attract insects and they get caught in the web of death.