"Design" and "God's Grandeur" Conversation

“Design” by Robert Frost questions the possibly malevolent act of God while “God's Grandeur” by Gerard Manley Hopkins praises God's creation. Upon closer inspection, though, we could see that not only do the two poems share similar writing styles and the concept of surface versus depth but also share the common theme of religion and environment as the authors critique the powerful nature of God and speculate the capacity of the Creator.

Both poems are Petrarchans, fourteen-lined Italian sonnets that are broken into octets and sestets. While the first stanza (first eight lines) in “Design” lists the observations Frost finds in the naturally occurring world and the second stanza (the next six lines) questions God's intent for the creation of such things, the first stanza in “God's Grandeur” presents the problems of land exploitation and the second stanza offers a solution to the problem. Also, although presented slightly differently in Frost's “Design”, the basic rhyme scheme in both poems is ABBAABBA CDCDCD.

In “Design” the significance of an interaction between a spider, flower, and moth, one that is normally found insignificant, is emphasized. The poem opens with a descriptive scene and the consistent use of “white”. A “fat and white” spider is found on a “white heal-all” holding up a moth whose wings is like a “white piece of rigid satin cloth”. The word “white”, symbolizing innocence and purity in the Western culture, not only shows up constantly in the first few lines but continues to be a looming presence throughout the rest of the poem. Although the white moth believed it would be camouflaged by the white heal-all, it was still captured by the hidden white spider. With this Frost questions how the three creatures, all viewed in the positive light, could be involved in such brutal act or placed in such negative light. He questions the existence of God—how such “design of darkness” could exist in something “so small” like the spider if God exists. What would that make the rest of the world? This shows that God has a plan, or design, for all things significant and insignificant. He has the power to control the course of nature, to appoint the lifestyles of creatures, and to create illusions. Purity is not permanent as shown by the “kindred spider” who eventually lost its innocence when it “steered the white moth thither in the night”. In most cases, underneath all good lies some sort of evil. Frost is telling us to look beyond the surface, or the superficial illusion, of things and to delve into the depths of reality and truth.

Hopkins' “God's Grandeur” talks of the powerful presence and influence of God and consequently the persistence and strength of nature (created by God). The first stanza of the poem opens with a descriptive setting, which depicts the remarkable form of nature. The natural world is “charged with the grandeur of God”; it is naturally charged with God's magnificence and therefore gives an impression of divinity. However, human take the gift of nature for granted: “Generations have trod, have trod, have trod”. Oblivious to where it came from and not even taking a moment to appreciate the gift, soon “all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil...the soil is bare now”. Although human have exploited the land for material gains and disregarded God's grandeur, the gift cannot be exhausted for “nature is never spent”. Everything renews, just as the sun would rise again the following morning if “the last lights off the black West went”. God's grandeur could overcome the human destruction of land for as soon as something is destroyed, the cycle of rebirth and destruction continues. Hopkins is telling us that underneath the surface and land, the superficial devastation of land, there is a depth in which nature is able to revive itself for “There lives the dearest freshness deep down things”. This is all thanks to the “Holy Ghost”, God, who nourishes the world “with warm breast and with ah! bright wings”.