Here is an excerpt from Marianne Moore's "Poetry" in which Moore expresses her dislike for poorly written poems. What does Moore mean when she says "imaginary gardens with real toads in them" in this excerpt?
Same thing may be said for all of us—that
We do not admire that we cannot understand. The bat, holding on upside down or in quest of something to eat, elephants pushing, a wild horse taking a roll... all these phenomena are important. One must make a distinction, however: when dragged into prominence by half poets, the result is not poetry. Nor till the autoerats among us can be "literalists of the imagination"—above insolence and triviality and can present for inspection, imaginary gardens with real toads in them, shall we have it. In the meantime, if you demand on the one hand, in defiance of their opinion—the raw material of poetry in all its rawness, and that which is on the other hand, genuine, then you are interested in poetry.
A. Poets use abstract concepts because such ideas can be easily understood and make the poem universal.
B. Poets use abstract concepts, so it is hard to determine the meaning of a poem.
C. Poetry is inconsequential because it combines ideas illogically, such as imaginary gardens with real-life objects placed in them.
D. Poets should write at least one poem that includes a pastoral or romantic scene.
E. Poets must be able to inject real emotion into abstract concepts.