Philip Larkin

Philip Larkin’s Toads: Summary & Analysis
oad. The word conjures up images of a grotesque, little amphibian and yet it is this little animal that Larkin decides to base his poem on. He describes two toads. One is the exterior influence that society has on and individual to work, and the other is the interior or personal prompting to work.  He takes a thirty six line attempt at finding away to elude the “squatting” of the toads, and yet in the end his conclusion is that there is no way to hide from them.
As the poem begins, Larkin wastes no time in introducing the first toad, “Why should I let the toad work / Squat on my life.”(1-2)  The first toad is said to be equal to work. The use of this metaphor jogs one’s memory to the social connotations that a toad upholds. One of these connotations is that a toad is a repulsive little being, with an ugliness characterized in it warts or more precisely the myth that those “uglies” are contagious. When this interpretation is used the poet is saying that work is a ugly and repulsive entity, and its ugliness is contagious. A second interpretation of the word toad can be found from fairy tales. In these types of works the toad is often seen as something detestable on the exterior and yet of great value or beauty on the interior. An example of this is the toad that when kissed by the princess was turned into a prince. In order for the real identity of this amphibian to be realized, one must to get past the outer shell.  In keeping with this explanation Larkin can also be seen as saying that work at first appear as a hideous and burdensome beast and yet after careful inspection and acceptance its true beauty is shown. Thus one sees the first toad and views its composition as a combination of two interpretations.
A second item to note is the use of the verb “squat”(2) as the word to carry the action of the toad. This word is definitely not one of the English languages most attractive words. Rather by stretching one’s mind it...