toads (symbol)
Moore calls for "real toads" in the "imaginary gardens" of poetry, and those toads symbolize the everyday, raw, vibrant material that should form the basis of good poetry. Critic Bonnie Costello explicates this further, writing, "Toads belong to a lexicon of symbols and have their own literary history, as rich as the history of the imaginary garden, even part of the same tradition. Together with other amphibians and reptiles (snakes, basilisks, chameleons) they often represent the power of the irrational in the midst of controlled elements. Their shocking, irregular appearance, their way of leaping out of camouflage, produces an effect of the uncanny, or gothic horror, in some versions of the sublime. Though 'natural symbols,' they are often cousins to the demonic or supernatural—the incubus, the satyr—as creatures outside the realm of human understanding. They are present in literature not as 'things in themselves' but as challenges to the boundaries of beauty, decorum, human order."
animals (symbol)
All of the animals are symbols of real life, for they are physical, dirty, loud, coarse, breathing creatures acting in a "genuine" fashion. The bats look for food, the horses roll in the dirt, the wolf sits lazily, the horse has a flea, elephants push; all of this is a type of reality much more interesting to Moore than the "fiddle" of pretentious poetry.
the literary world (motif)
Throughout this poem there are several examples of the literary world Moore inhabits: the "fiddle" put out by poets, the "immovable critic" who sticks firm to his "high-sounding interpretation," the "half poets," and the "autocrats." All of these references suggest Moore wants to tell her readers that real poetry isn't concerned with this artifice and desire for fame and preeminence. The genuine matters more than the hermetic, snobby, and involuted world of poet and critic.
