Animals

This post will be continuously updated, for collecting and sorting poems that focus on animals.

birds dogs cats critters fish horses lobsters mollusks
reptiles amphibians spiders insects invertebrate imaginary zoo

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Birds

1. Béranger, Pierre-Jean de — The Swallows [Black Cat Poems]
2. Bishop, Elizabeth — Roosters [Poetry Foundation^♠]
3. Broughton, T. Alan — Great Blue Heron [American Life in Poetry]
4. Brown, George Mackay — The Hawk [The Poetry Archive]
5. Bryant, William Cullen — To a Waterfowl [Yale Book of American Verse]
6. Burns, David — Geese [pdf pg] [Agenda^♥]
7. Clampitt, Amy — The Kingfisher [Poetry Society of America]
8. Clare, John — The Yellowhammer (with reading by Randall Couch ♫) [Poets on Poets]
9. Clare, John — Turkeys [Poetry Society of America]
10. Ebenbach, David Harris — The sparrows gather nearby… [Subtropics^♥]
11. Ghigna, Charles — Hunting the Cotaco Creek [Poetry Foundation^♠]
12. Hardy, Thomas — The Darkling Thrush [Poem of the Day]
13. Harrison, Jim — Birds Again [Poets.org^♠]
14. Hughes, Ted — Hawk Roosting [E-Verse Radio]
15. Jeffers, Robinson — Hurt Hawks [Poetry Foundation^♠]
16. Keats, John — Ode to a Nightingale; with reading by Jennifer Grotz ♫ [Poets on Poets]
17. Kennedy, Bernard — Pigeon in the loft [Electric Acorn^♥]
18. Kizer, Carolyn — The Great Blue Heron [the the poetry blog]
19. McFerrin, Linda Watanabe — Canada Goose [Canary^♥]
20. Millay, Edna St. Vincent — Wild Swans [Poetry Society of America]
21. Nandy, June — A bird makes a crowd flaccid ♫ [qarrtsiluni^♥]
22. Oliver, Mary — The Hummingbird [Poem of the Day]
23. Oliver, Mary — The Loon [Poem of the Day]
24. Oliver, Mary — Wild Geese [Poem of the Day]
25. Poulson, Kaelum — The Crow [Poetry Foundation^♠]
26. Roethke, Theodore — The Heron [Poetry Society of America]
27. Roper, Mark — Hummingbird [Guardian]
28. Schomburg, Zachary — A Band of Owls Moved Into Town [Tarpaulin Sky]
29. Shelley, Percy Bysshe — To A Skylark; with reading by Rae Armantrout ♫ [Poets on Poets]
30. Simic, Charles — Don’t Name the Chickens [Slate]
31. Smith, J. D. — In an Atrium [The Nervous Breakdown] Featuring a flamingo.
32. Stevens, Wallace — Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird [Poetry Out Loud^♠]
33. Stone, Darren — Learning from the birds [Christian Science Monitor]
34. Tennyson, Alfred, Lord — The Eagle [Poetry Foundation^♠]
35. Thomas, Edward — The Owl [E-Verse Radio. Also at The Best American Poetry.]
36. Tigchelaar, Jeff — One Way of Looking at Thirteen Blackbirds [Verse Daily^♠]
37. Van Prooyen, Laura — Could Be a Bird [No Tell Motel]
38. Wilbur, Richard — A Barred Owl [Poetry Foundation (also at Poetry Out Loud)]
39. Wordsworth, William — To the Skylark ♫ [Poetry Moment]
40. Wright, James — You and I Saw Hawks Exchanging the Prey[Poetry Foundation^♠]
41. Yezzi, David — Azores: Mother Carey’s Hen [pdf] [Ohio University Press]
42. York, John Thomas — Egret [Verse Daily]

See also the separate Verse Per Se collection of poems for the mockingbird.

Dogs

1. Doty, Mark — Golden Retrievals [Poetry Out Loud^♠]
2. Dylan, Bob — If Dogs Run Free [Bob Dylan] OK sure, it’s not really a poem about dogs, but how can I resist having it here? “If dogs run free, then what must be / Must be, and that is all…”
3. Ferlinghetti, Lawrence — Dog [Poetry Out Loud^♠]
4. Kelly, Brigit Pegeen — Sheet Music [Poetry Out Loud^♠]
5. Mcleod, Irene Rutherford — Lone Dog ♫ [Poetry Moment]
6. Neruda, Pablo — A Dog Has Died [Poetry Foundation^♠]
7. Ryan, Michael — The Dog [The American Poetry Review]
8. Updike, John — Dog’s Death [E-Verse Radio]
9. Wright, James — On the Skeleton of a Hound [Poets.org^♠]
10. Zimmer, Paul — Dog Music [Poem of the Day]

Cats

1. Allen, Gilbert — My Guardian Biped [Free Lunch^♥]
2. Baudelaire, Charles (translated by Florence Major) — The Cat ♫ [qarrtsiluni^♥] “The brown opium of my desire still lives.”
3. Gray, Thomas — On The Death Of A Favourite Cat, Drowned In A Tub Of Gold Fishes [E-Verse Radio]
4. Hilbert, Ernest — A Legend about Cats [Praxilla]
5. Locey, Kathryn — Wild Inside [Christian Science Monitor]
6. Murray, Les — Observing the Mute Cat [Poetry Daily]
7. Terris, Virginia R. — A Walk with My Cat [Beloit Poetry Journal^♥]
8. Williams, William Carlos — Poem [E-Verse Radio] ——— [The Writer’s Almanac]

Critters

1. [Anonymous] — The Pig ♫ [The Writer’s Almanac^♠]
2. Atwood, Margaret — Rat Song [Poem of the Day]
3. Bishop, Elizabeth — The Armadillo [Poets.org^♠]
4. Bishop, Elizabeth — The Moose [E-Verse Radio]
5. Blake, William — The Tyger [Poet.org]
6. Bly, Robert — The Lion and the Lioness [Asheville Poetry Review^♥]
7. Brown, Jericho — Lion [E-Verse Radio] See also From the Fishouse♫.
8. Crawford, Isabella Valancy — The Dark Stag [Poetry In Voice]
9. Devaney, Thomas — Baby Black Bear [The Awl]
10. Eberhart, Richard — The Groundhog [Oldpoetry] (Also at BigCityLit)
11. Geddes, Gary — Jimmy’s Place [Canadian Poetry Online] Featuring a cow.
12. Geller, Conrad — The Coyote in the Graveyard ♫ [Rattle^♥]
13. Gibb, Robert — For the Chipmunk in My Yard [Poetry Foundation^♠]
14. Hughes, Ted — View of a Pig [E-Verse Radio]
15. Jamie, Kathleen — Pipistrelles [Poetry Archive]
16. Kavanagh, P J — The Clapham Elephants [The Poetry Archive]
17. Kinnell, Galway — The Bear [Poets.org^♠]
18. Kumin, Maxine — Woodchucks [Poets.org]
19. Levin, Phillis — A Rhinoceros at the Prague Zoo [Poetry Northwest]
20. McKee, Glenn — Lester’s Calling ♫ [Rattle^♥] Featuring a beloved pig.
21. Mitchell, Adrian — Elephant Eternity [The Poetry Archive]
22. Murray, Les — Bats’ Ultrasound [Poetry Archive]
23. Murray, Les — Platypus [E-Verse Radio]
24. Oliver, Mary — One Hundred White-Sided Dolphins on a Summer Day [Poem of the Day]
25. Roethke, Theodore — The Bat [Friends of Theodore Roethke]
26. Schomburg, Zachary — Bear and Camper [Tarpaulin Sky]
27. Snider, Clifton — Mountain Lion [Clifton Snider] Of a carving.
28. Temelkuran, Ece (translated by Deniz Perin) — Squirrel [Poetry Daily]
29. Wunder, Sue — Where the Cows Sleep [Christian Science Monitor]
30. Wunderlich, Mark — Coyote, with Mange [Poetry Foundation^♠]

Fish

1. Bishop, Elizabeth — The Fish [E-Verse Radio]
2. Hughes, Langston — Catch [Poetry Foundation^♠] At least half this poem belongs in this subset, does it not.
3. Melville, Herman — The Maldive Shark [Poets.org]
4. Sheffield, Derek — A Good Fish [Poetry Foundation^♠]
5. Wright, Charles — Heaven’s Eel [The New Yorker]
6. Wright, James — Northern Pike [Poets.org^♠]

See also On The Death Of A Favourite Cat, Drowned In A Tub Of Gold Fishes under Cats.

Horses

1. Dylan, Bob — All The Tired Horses [Bob Dylan] Enough said.
2. Jerome, Judson — Horses [pdf pg] [Beloit Poetry Journal^♥]
3. Levine, Philip — The Horse [Poetry Foundation^♠]
4. Longley, Michael — The Horses [The Times Literary Supplement]

Lobsters — See Lobsters.

Mollusks

1. Gunn, Thom — Considering the Snail [Poetry Archive]
2. Moore, Marianne — An Octopus [E-Verse Radio]

Reptiles

1. Abonado, Albert — Snake Story [Guernica]
2. Beddoes, Thomas Lovell — A Crocodile [Poets.org]
3. Ellison, George — Beneath the Flaming Cardinal Flower [Asheville Poetry Review^♥] Copperheads in August.
4. Jones, Rodney — Skink [Poetry Foundation^♠]
5. Lawrence, D.H. — Snake [E-Verse Radio]
6. Lindsay, Vachel — The Little Turtle [Poetry Foundation^♠]
7. Moses, Brian — The Sssnake Hotel [Poetry Archive]
8. Mudie, Ian — Snake [Old Poetry]
9. Roethke, Theodore — Snake [PBS]
10. Ryan, Kay — Turtle ♫ [Poetry Foundation^♠]

Amphibians

1. Belloc, Hilaire — The Frog [Poetry Foundation^♠]
2. Wright, James — Small Frogs Killed on the Highway (4^th poem on the page) [In a Dark Time]

Spiders

1. Barton, Bernard — Bruce and the Spider [Poet’s Corner]
2. Howitt, Mary — The Spider and the Fly [Wikisource]
3. Lowell, Robert — Mr. Edwards and the Spider [Old Poetry]
4. Taylor, Edward — Upon A Spider Catching A Fly [Everyday Poems]

Insects

1. Aygi, Gennadiy — Third Grasshopper (translated by Peter France) [Words without Borders]
2. Barbauld, Anna Lætitia — The Caterpillar [Representative Poetry Online]
3. Donne, John — The Flea [Poetry In Voice]
4. Dudek, Louis — The Strange Moth [Canadian Poetry Online]
5. Entrekin, Charles — Climate Change: Drought [Climate Change: Drought^♥] Hungry beetles.
6. Frost, Robert — A Boy’s Will: My Butterfly [Wikisource]
7. Herbert, Zbigniew — Wasp [Poetry Foundation^♠]
8. Howitt, Mary — The Spider and the Fly [Wikisource]
9. Jones, Rodney — The Mosquito [Poetry Foundation^♠]
10. Keats, John — On the Grasshopper and Cricket [Poetry Foundation^♠] Calling on those two insects to speak to the life of poetry.
11. Komunyakaa, Yusef — Yellowjackets [Poem of the Day]
12. Lawrence, D. H. — The Mosquito [Poetry Foundation^♠]
13. Padgett, Ron — Grasshopper [Poets.org^♠]
14. Shapcott, Jo — Six bee poems [pdf]: (1) I Tell The Bees; (2) The Threshold; (3) The Hive; (4) Going About With The Bees; (5) CCD; and (6) The Sting [Poetry Review^♥]
15. Shapcott, Jo — The Hive [E-Verse Radio]
16. Sherbondy, Maureen A. — The Bees [Verse Daily^♠]
17. Sill, Edward Rowland — The Crickets in the Fields [Poet’s Corner]
18. Valvis, James — The Flies [Rattle]

Invertebrate

1. Bergengren, Ralph — The Worm [Poetry Foundation^♠]

Imaginary

1. Alexie, Sherman — The Last Sasquatch Defines His Loneliness (fifth of eight poems on the page) [Mudlark^♥]
2. Carroll, Lewis — Jabberwocky [Wikisource]
3. Gunn, Thom — Moly [The Poetry Archive]
4. Kennedy, X J — Hippogriff [Poetry Foundation]
5. Morgan, Edwin — The Loch Ness Monster’s Song [Poetry Archive] Sounds very much like me on any given morning.
6. Tennyson, Alfred, Lord — The Kraken [E-Verse Radio]

Zoo

1. Dylan, Bob — Man Gave Names To All The Animals [Bob Dylan]
2. Larsen, Lance — Chancellor of Shadows [Orion magazine]
3. Nemerov, Howard — The Dependencies [Poetry Foundation^♠]
4. Roethke, Theodore — The Far Field [Theodore Roethke]
5. Wright, James — Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota [Poetry Foundation^♠]

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