… on her doorstep. She is not sure why
she is proud of this — why she’s proud
that a toad has chosen her doorstep on
which to settle and eat bugs — but she is.
As with a previous toad who lived on her
doorstep, UD has named it Elphaba.
… on her doorstep. She is not sure why
she is proud of this — why she’s proud
that a toad has chosen her doorstep on
which to settle and eat bugs — but she is.
As with a previous toad who lived on her
doorstep, UD has named it Elphaba.
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June 5th, 2010 at 5:35PM
I’m sure there are countless toads, used to represent diverse things, in literature, but it is Larkin’s image for work. Even then, though, I am not sure what message it brings.
June 5th, 2010 at 5:52PM
Richard:
I guess in the poem Larkin likes the image of squatting the toad conveys –
But then he says he has to work even though he doesn’t want to:
The dumb passive oppressive negative energy within the speaker makes him a frightened little toad, squatting under the weight of his conformity and cowardice. He lacks the courage to risk freedom. He’d rather sit unmoving, squatting, like a toad, at his desk… Something that like…
June 5th, 2010 at 6:51PM
The way you describe it (persuasively) reminds me of the heavy bear in Delmore Schwartz. A differently purposed, more disgustedly treated image, but a similarly used one: an ‘inescapable animal’.
I am now saddled with the decision (which I know there is no need to make) of which to prefer of Larkin’s and Schwartz’s poems. That Larkin wrote many fine poems, and Schwartz considerably fewer, is pushing Schwartz’s case into a slight lead.
June 8th, 2010 at 11:59AM
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