A Study Guide for Philip Larkin's "Toads"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Philip Larkin's "Toads," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Aug 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781535841351

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Toads

Philip Larkin

1955

Introduction

First published in Philip Larkin’s second collection of poetry, The Less Deceived, in 1955, Toads is one of his more popular poems. It was this second collection which introduced Larkin to poetic recognition at the age of 33. Over the years, this humorous and sardonic look at nine-to-five office life has provided both a window into the author’s biography and an anthem for those who share the poem’s central question: "Why should I let the toad work / Squat on my life? Like so many in England during the 1950s who found themselves spending a majority of their time sitting in an office at a desk in order just to pay off a few bills, the speaker of the poem dreams of telling his boss Stuff your pension! Featuring Larkin’s distinctive mix of everyday language crafted into metered verse, many critics and readers perceived the poem as Larkin’s stand against office life. Less than ten years later, he returned to the same subject in a follow-up sister poem, Toads