The boundaries of symbolism -- Intention : standard or fallacy? -- Definitions and touchstones -- The interpretation of symbols -- Humpty Dumpty -- Henry David Thoreau : A hound, a bay horse, and a turtle dove -- Robert Frost : "Stopping by woods on a snowy evening" -- Jonah and the whale -- Nathaniel Hawthorne : "Young Goodman Brown" -- James Joyce : "Clay" -- Franz Kafka : "A country doctor" -- William Blake : "The mental traveller."