Philip Larkin: Love, Life, Death

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The next poem by Phillip Larkin, “The Toads” uses imagery to paint a view on work. Larkin uses the toad as a symbolic representation of the external and internal duty or obligations to work. A toad, after all can be seen as a slimy, unappealing creature, much like how Larkin views this topic. It is in Larkin’s understanding that work, is something that cannot be avoided, an inexcusable part of life. The poem begins with the stanza, “Why should I let the toad work? Squat on my life.” It is from this line that set the tone about the inability to avoid work as a part of life. The poet speaks of the “toad” as a brute who he must constantly fight off. He figures that maybe, just maybe he may be able to fight it off using wit. As the poem progresses towards the next stanza, the poet continues to deliberate on the pain and suffering that this “toad” brings him, mentioning that it poisons him for six days, for not much of return. Larkin’s use of the word “poison” to describe work, has the effect of comparing work to that of a disease, therefore demonstrating to the reader how terrible this ordeal can be. The poet continues to wonder about how he can avoid working, and he does so by mentioning people who have done it, like lecturers, lispers, losels, loblolly, and louts. The last four individuals mentioned are uncommon English words to define lowlifes and losers of society. Those individual, by definition avoid work.

As the poem continues to stanza four, the poet continues to mention individuals in society who avoid work. The “folks who live of lanes, with fires in a bucket” refer to the homeless. Larkin mentions how these individuals seem to “like it” that they are not boggled down by work. However, this feels much like a romanticizing of life without work. There also seems to be a dab of sarcasm in regards to this statement. Larkin continues to speak of the homeless and poor in stanza five, this time speaking of the children and wives. He refers to the children as “nippers” and the wives as “skinny as whippets.” Nippers and whippets, much like losels, loblolly, and louts in stanza 3, are very old English phrases, a testament of Larkin’s deep vocabulary. The fact that he states that “no one actually starves” at the end of the stanza seems sarcastic in nature, due mostly to the previous stanza and the line leading up to it. As we progress to stanza six, we begin to understand exactly how the poet feels. He feels that he could be courage’s enough to denounce work completely, to be done with it, but he understands that it is only but a fantasy. Lakin refers to this as what “dreams are made of.”

As we move down towards the next stanza, we continue to uncover the reasons behind why the poet has not given up on work. According to the line, “for something sufficiently toad like, squats in me too,” the poet feels as if, not only is there an external toad, but there is something internal, perhaps a feeling of obligation that prevents him from abandoning work. He continues to describe this internal “toad” through the use of descriptive words like heavy, hard as luck, and cold as snow. There words have the connotation of painting the internal obligation in a very negative light. The next stanza begins with the line, “and will never allow me to blarney,” which is an old English way of saying flatter or talk, and ends with, “the fame and the girl and the money, all on one sitting.” It’s Larkin’s way of saying that his internal obligations to work is what prevents him from achieving some of the wonders of life, in this case, fame, love, and money. It’s almost as if Larkin feels as if work gets you nowhere no matter how much you put into it. As the poem concludes, the poet states that he doesn’t believe that one bodies the other spiritual truth, meaning that they do not compete against each other’s underlying reason, but rather they are mutually inclusive. They are unavoidable and go hand in hand. The poem ends with the line, “but I do say it’s hard to lose either, when you have both.” Larkin fully understands that to live a fulfilled and complete life, the societal obligation to work (the external toad) and the internal obligation (the internal toad) are unavoidable and impossible to abandon.

It is incorrect to say that Philip Larkin was a man who only saw pessimism in the world, but rather, he was a man who through observations saw beyond what exists in plain sight. He made his observations of the world that differed from that of the rose colored glasses that humanity tends to see. It is refreshing to have a poet, who was not afraid to be seen as a malcontent, but rather a man who was brave enough to say that while the world is full life and positivity, death, pain, and suffering are also within the realm of realism. That is why I content that Philip Larkin’s poetic style can be categorized by three words: diction, skepticism, and discontent, all through observations of what exists in the world. Larkin’s career spanned decades, dedicated to not only poetry, but to writing novels. While I maintain that his entire catalogue of works can be used to demonstrate my argument about his poetic style, it is through two poems, “Aubade” and “Toads,” that fully demonstrate his ability to show what exists beyond the surface. Philip Larkin understood quite clearly that as part of life, things exist that are unavoidable, things like societal and internal obligations, as well as death. Larkin dedicated career to speaking about the impending truths. While each of these poems could not be further from one another, written decades apart, readers cannot help but see how interrelated both are among one another. Larkin may have grown older, but his style never deviated. He kept true to his belief in life, love, and death.