The general situation of this sonnet is a rather simple event that occurs in nature on a daily basis. In literal terms, Frost is writing about a spider that is sitting on a flower and “holding” a moth. Clearly the moth has found itself trapped in a spider-web and it soon to be the meal of the spider.

The speaker is simply an observer or lover of nature. However, the speaker is not an ordinarily simpleminded individual. The speaker surely proves his insight and intelligence when he breaks away from his observations and asks “why?”. (questioning events or ideas seems to be a sign of heightened awareness and intelligence) Upon analysis of the characteristics of the speaker, it can be concluded that the speaker and the author are one in the same. Robert Frost was both a lover and observer of nature and obviously an intelligent man.

By the end of the octet, the contrast between the positive connotations of the color white and the apparent gruesomeness of the scene before the speaker is made explicit. Frost is following with Italian sonnet form by making an observation in the octet. The speaker describes in intricate detail a scene of seemingly innocent creatures that have encountered each other in a most gruesome situation. The speaker makes interesting observations regarding the simple purity and goodness that is represented in the colors of the objects and the obvious impurity of death and destruction that will soon befall upon them. On one hand, the scene is one of “death and blight,” mixed like a “witch’s broth” and including “dead wings.” On the other hand, the spider is like a “snow-drop,” once again suggesting purity, and the moth’s wings are like a “paper kite,” creating a childhood image of innocence.

In the sestet, the speaker wonders how this coincidence of a white spider and white moth on a white flower came to be, especially given the ironic tension between the positive connotations of the color symbolism and the negative connotations of the spider’s killing of the moth. However, I have noticed that the speaker does not have a negative attitude toward nor blames the spider the flower, or the moth. The speaker calls the heal-all “innocent,” and describes the spider as being “kindred” to the flower. In the sestet, the speaker comments on the irony and unlikely ness of the situation. He finds it hard to fathom that these three objects have compounded together in a rather unlikely situation, especially considering the irony that the heal-all is white (like the spide

Some topics in this essay:
Frost Italian, Robert Frost, Robert Frost’s, Genesis Satan, Bible God, Bible Satan’s, white spider, blight” mixed “witch’s, “death blight” mixed, positive connotations color, mixed “witch’s broth”, “witch’s broth”, frost writing, innocence purity, positive connotations, white flower, italian sonnet, purity goodness, connotations color, mixed “witch’s,