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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


DESIGN by ROBERT FROST

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: I FOUND A DIMPLED SPIDER, FAT AND WHITE
Last Line: IF DESIGN GOVERN IN A THING SO SMALL.
Subject(s): DEATH; FATE; GOD; INSECTS; MEN; NATURE; SPIDERS; DEAD, THE; DESTINY; BUGS;

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 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 appal? --
If design govern in a thing so small.



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