Ted Hughes was an animal lover, and in this poem, he represents the fox as a concept that penetrates the poet's psyche. The fox represents an idea in symbolism. Ted Hughes outlines how an artist's mind gets invaded by an idea. He connects heavenly revelation to the fox. The thought fox is an idea that comes into existence due to divine inspiration but later becomes a reality with human effort. Hughes says that even though the fox is just a symbol, it still captures the poet's imagination because there are times when he feels like a fox trapped in his own body. The poet also admits that sometimes he thinks like a hunter who seeks revenge for being hunted himself. However, he adds that such thoughts do not last long because soon he returns to his real self which is that of an artist. Overall, the title means that the poet has created a concept that has become a reality with effort. Divine inspiration is needed at times to create new ideas that later become realities with human effort.