Poetry: Animal Symbolism

In the Poetry: Animal Symbolism Collection, we've gathered a selection of poems that represent abstract ideas using animals. For hundreds of years, poets have turned to the animal kingdom and natural world for inspiration. This Collection highlights the many ways poets have used mammals, fish, birds, and other creatures to represent themes such as love, grief, and mortality.

Publication year 2016Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Safety & DangerTags Animals

Publication year 1891Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: Animals, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Natural World: EnvironmentTags Animals, Science / Nature

Publication year 1999Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: AnimalsTags Lyric Poem, Grief / Death, Animals, Religion / Spirituality, Relationships, Latin American Literature

Publication year 1766Genre Poem, FictionThemes Life/Time: Mortality & DeathTags Lyric Poem, Animals, Trauma / Abuse / Violence

Publication year 2003Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Hate & AngerTags Animals, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Social Justice

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Sylvia Plath
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Publication year 1965Genre Poem, FictionThemes Identity: Gender, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Identity: Femininity, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Order & ChaosTags Free verse, Animals, Race / Racism, Gender / Feminism, Confessional

Publication year 1975Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: Animals, Life/Time: Mortality & DeathTags Lyric Poem, Relationships, Animals

Publication year 1923Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: AnimalsTags Lyric Poem, Philosophy, Animals

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William Butler Yeats
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Publication year 1933Genre Poem, FictionThemes Life/Time: Mortality & DeathTags Lyric Poem, Grief / Death, Modernism, Animals

Publication year 1974Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Natural World: AnimalsTags Lyric Poem, Free verse, Animals

Publication year 1891Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / PerseveranceTags Lyric Poem, Philosophy, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Animals

Publication year 1977Genre Poem, FictionThemes Society: Politics & Government, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / PerseveranceTags Lyric Poem, Philosophy, Science / Nature, Latin American Literature, Animals

Publication year 1946Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: Nurture v. NatureTags Christian literature, Animals, American Literature

Publication year 1938Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: AnimalsTags Lyric Poem, Animals, Modernism, Mythology

Publication year 1957Genre Poem, FictionTags Lyric Poem, Animals, Science / Nature, Grief / Death, Latin American Literature, Food

Publication year 1686Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Place, Emotions/Behavior: NostalgiaTags Asian Literature, Lyric Poem, Japanese Literature, Animals

Many scholars agree that “Old Pond” (1686) by Matsuo Bashō is one of the most—if not the most—famous haiku of all time. The term “haiku” translates as “play verse,” and though “Old Pond” appears whimsical and simple—a frog jumping into water and the subsequent splash—Bashō utilizes various literary devices such as key words and onomatopoeia to ensure this three-line poem is both didactic and enjoyable. “Old Pond” is instructional, especially for its use of common... Read Old Pond Summary


Publication year 1900Genre Poem, FictionTags Lyric Poem, Children's Literature, Modernism, Animals

Publication year 2011Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Life/Time: Mortality & DeathTags Lyric Poem, Grief / Death, Animals, Philosophy, American Literature

Publication year 1872Genre Poem, FictionTags Allegory / Fable / Parable, Philosophy, Animals, Religion / Spirituality

Publication year 2005Genre Poem, FictionThemes Relationships: FamilyTags Lyric Poem, Relationships, American Literature, Animals

Publication year 1900Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: AnimalsTags Animals

Publication year 1789Genre Poem, FictionTags Lyric Poem, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Animals

Publication year 1845Genre Poem, FictionThemes Emotions/Behavior: MemoryTags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Narrative / Epic Poem, Classic Fiction, Animals, Grief / Death

Influenced by the English Romantic poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Lord” George Gordon Byron, and Percy Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe represents one of the essential American Romantic poets of the nineteenth century. Romanticism here refers to a literary movement of the late 1700s and 1800s which focused on the emotional life of the individual and curiosity about the self. This movement complemented a larger geopolitical and ideological shift in the United States. As a young nation... Read The Raven Summary


Publication year 1939Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: AnimalsTags Lyric Poem, Animals

Publication year 1794Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Good & EvilTags Lyric Poem, Science / Nature, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Mythology, Animals

Publication year 1918Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Natural World: AnimalsTags Lyric Poem, Religion / Spirituality, Animals, Victorian Period

Publication year 1917Genre Poem, FictionThemes Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Animals, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Natural World: EnvironmentTags Animals, Science / Nature, Lyric Poem

Wallace Stevens is the author of “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” and he first published the poem in 1917 as a part of the literary anthology Others: An Anthology of New Verse. In 1923, he included the poem in his first collection of poetry, Harmonium, which features many of Stevens’s most well-known poems—poems that continue to appear in anthologies—like “The Snow Man“ and “The Emperor of Ice-Cream.” Stevens was born in Pennsylvania and... Read Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird Summary


Publication year 1820Genre Poem, FictionTags Animals

Publication year 2004Genre Poem, FictionTags Allegory / Fable / Parable, Animals

Publication year 1825Genre Poem, FictionThemes Values/Ideas: Beauty, Natural World: PlaceTags Lyric Poem, Animals, Science / Nature

Publication year 1932Genre Poem, FictionThemes Identity: Sexuality, Natural World: Nurture v. NatureTags Lyric Poem, Animals, Love / Sexuality, British Literature