In Robert Frosts’ poem Design, he contemplates upon G-d’s existence while observing a spider eating a moth on a flower. He seems to be in awe of the great design of nature, but doesn’t understand where the design came from as he feels he’s in the “darkness”, away from the light of truth. The speaker’s thoughts show that he realizes there is meaning in all these parts and wonders if there is a design for his life as well.
Robert Frost presents some irony throughout the poem. He repeats the word “white” many times, whether to describe the spider, the flower, etc., when the poem’s main theme is death as the spider eats the moth. Also, the spider might have realized that he had an observer, but G-d was watching him and observing him the whole time. We also see some metonymy in the poem when the poet says, “And dead wings carried like a paper kite,” as he uses a kite to describe the wings.
We also see synecdoche in the poem when the poet says, “Assorted characters of death and blight mixed ready to begin the morning right, like the ingredients of a witches’ broth..” In the poem the moth is “standing in the witches’ cauldron,” so to speak.
The poet also contemplates if there are two designers in the world as he feels that he designs his own life as well. Just as he is watching and observing the spider so too G-d is watching and observing