The Blue Bowl

The poem, “The Blue Bowl,” by Jane Kenyon, Kenyon expresses grief over her cat who had passed. Kenyon writes about her cat using imagery and similes. By using these devices, Kenyon creates a somewhat dark, but sad tone for the reader. She expresses grief using imagery when Kenyon describes the “long red fur” and “white feathers between the toes” of the cat as they bury it. Kenyon also uses similes such as, “like primitives we buried the cat” to describe the pain she felt while burying the cat.  Kenyon also used a sound device when she wrote, “they fell with a hiss and a thud on his side.” This creates a sudden, darker tone for the poem as she writes in the sound the dirt made as it fell onto the cat. Kenyon was able to create a grieving tone in her poem by creating images out of similes and sound devices.