In the poem Toads revisited Larkin presents what he thinks about work avoiders and his attitude to them. At the end of the poem Larkin decides that being unemployed is far worse that doing work everyday.
In the title in of the poem 'Toads Revisited', Larkin uses the word toad (not like the animal), however in the poem it means work. This means that the poem is going to be about work and people who avoid work. The word "revisited" means that Larkin made this poem as a sequel to the original poem 'Toads'. The theme of the poem 'Toads' questions the differences between the haves and the have-nots. In it he depicts life of the average person, who works six days a week and does not fully cover bills or food. He also depicts the rich who are skinny, but not starving, and how they eat well and seem to have all the luck. In the poem 'Toads' revisited' Larkin thinks about weather he was right in 'Toads' as he talks over the similar topic of work avoiders.
In the first stanza of the poem, Larken immediately foreshadows what the conclusion of the poem is going to be, which is " Walking around the park Should feel better than work. This because he is describing walking in the park as being unemployed, so what Larkin is saying is being unemployed should feel better than work. Larkin uses the word "should" to show that he thinks that being unemployed should be better than work, however it turns out that it is not and being at work is better than being unemployed. In the other two lines of the stanza Larkin describes what the park is like by saying " The lake, the sunshine, The grass to lie on". This shows that Larkin is saying that nature is really good and makes him happy like in other poems e.g. 'Here', however it is not good enough because he is comparing it to being unemployed.
In the second stanza, Larkin starts by describing a played ground by saying "Blurred playground noises Beyond black-stockinged nurses". in these lines, Larkin is continuing to describe what the park is like and that he can see women in children around him having fun because he describes the "playground. These descriptions present a nice image of time of work, and Larkin then compliments it all by saying " Not a bad place to be". This shows that all this does not sound bad to Larkin, and that he thinks that it is all quite nice to him. However the last line of the stanza is a paradox because Larkin says that " Yet it does not suit me " which shows that he does not like it and its not the kind of thing for him. This also means that Larkin does not like the idea of being unemployed.
In the rest of the poem, Larkin basically writes all the bad things that happen to you when you are unemployed. He starts of by saying all the horrible people you meet when you are unemployed and is judging them because they are unemployed and weak. Larkin starts of the stanza by saying " Being one of the men you meet of the afternoon, in these lines Larkin is saying that these are all the people you meet in the afternoon when are unemployed. The first type of people that Larkin describes are "Palsied old step-takers". These are old people who can't walk, paralysed and have a twitching problem. The next type of people that Larkin describes are "Hare-eyed clerks with the jitters," these are insane people who work so hard and therefore have a nervous breakdown and have to have time of work.
In the forth stanza Larkin continues on from the third stanza by listing more unemployed people who are weak. The first one he lists in the stanza are " Waxed-fleshed out patients Still vague from accidents, these are people who have had major accidents who can't go back to work until they are recovered enough. The final type of unemployed people Larkin describes are " And characters in long coats Deep in litter-baskets". These type of people are homeless people who are trying to find food in the bins because they can't buy any themselves. In these two stanza's, Larkin judges everyone who is unemployed as being these ruined people that he described above who weak.
In the fifth stanza Larkin criticises people who are unemployed by saying " All dodging the toad toad work By being stupid and weak Think of being them". This shows that Larkin thinks that that people like the people he described who are unemployed are stupid or weak. Also the reason why they are unemployed is a result of them being stupid or week and he can't bear the thought of being like them. The last line of the stanza and which carries on to the next stanza, Larkin describes what people do when they are unemployed by saying " Hearing the hours chime". This shows that when you are employed, you just sit at home doing nothing and listening to time going by.
In the sixth stanza Larkin continues to talk about what you do when you are unemployed. In the first line Larkin says "Watching the bread delivered", this shows that one of the thing you when you are unemployed is watch the bread being delivered. It also suggests that Larkin is a observer in the poem and he likes to watch things from a distance and not get to involved in the situation. The stanza continues by saying "The children going home", which suggests that Larkin does not think children are important because he is not doing anything important in all the other lines he talks about. The last line in the stanza is "Think of being them", this shows that Larkin does not think there is no reward for being unemployed and that being unemployed means you live a very boring/ lonely life.
In the seventh stanza, Larkin criticises all people who are unemployed and referencing them as "failures". Larkin then says "By some bed of lobelia", to shows that unemployed people are people that you should not aspire/look up to. The next line of the stanza mentions that all unemployed people are just confined to " indoors and cannot see the outside world and its beauty. He then states that all unemployed people are lonley and have "no friends" to talk to. In the eigth stanza Larkin mentions that his job does not look sensible.
In the last stanza of the poem Larkin decides that being at work is better than not being at work. In the poem he says " Give me your arm, old toad Help me down Cemetery road". This show that being at work is a death sentence and he wants to do that. It also shows that Larkin wants to to do and he does not want to be like the unemployed people he desscribes. So overlall he is saying that being unemplued is worse than being at work and would rather take the death sentence and be at work.
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