Willows

Willow trees symbolize a variety of experiences, including resilience, wisdom, and sometimes grief. Their absence by the pond might subvert the reader's expectation, highlighting Schmidt's departure from a traditional poetic trope. The lack of willows also suggests a sense of melancholy barrenness that foreshadows the loss of life later in the poem.

Light

The light that filters through the pond symbolizes the vitality that animates this setting. The speaker cannot quite put his finger on the pond's life force, instead experiencing it as flickers of "seeming light" (3). When a drought kills the different species that live in the pond, the light becomes "literal and creatureless" (26).

Birds

Birds symbolize freedom and mobility, but Schmidt relies on this symbolism to evoke its opposite: resignation and restriction. For example, he compares the dying carp to "wingless birds" to show their confinement in the low water levels (15). He also describes...