A dented spider like a snow drop white
On a white Heal-all, holding up a moth
Like a white piece of lifeless satin cloth -
Saw ever curious eye so strange a sight? -
Portent in little, assorted death and blight
Like the ingredients of a witches' broth? -
The beady spider, the flower like a froth,
And the moth carried like a paper kite.
What had that flower to do with being white,
The blue prunella every child's delight.
What brought the kindred spider to that height?
(Make we no thesis of the miller's plight.)
What but design of darkness and of night?
Design, design! Do I use the word aright?
Notes
Later, in 1936 Frost edited this poem and retitled it as Design oldpoetry.com/poetry/7418
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Comments
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As I read through these lines I found myself wondering at times what they meant and then I read the later refined piece that he wrote and could understand things a little better. I think this write is lacking in laymens terms and makes it harder to understand, or to get the full picture of the moth hanging in the web on the flower.
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Interesting, looking at this and then the later version, just goes to show how experiance can alter the abillity to write an image. It's all here, but not with the same impact.
Andrew -
eh i like it
does anybody have a traslation of what they think robert frost is saying? i know its about a spider up on a flower with a moth, but there has to be some deeper meaning than just that?! overall, i like this poem; but i doesnt compare to the later verion (design) in any way. this later version is more clear and better to understand. -
very deep
What had that flower to do with being white,
The blue prunella every child's delight.
What brought the kindred spider to that height?
(Make we no thesis of the miller's plight.)
What but design of darkness and of night?
Design, design! Do I use the word aright?
there is something going straight to the heart. very simple and deep too.
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