Kids' poetry is written so that children can use their imagination to visualize mystical creatures, far-away places, fictional characters and unusual settings. Even though poetry for children is descriptive, poets often use symbolic characters or allegorical situations to reveal their ideas of truth. For example, William Cowper's poem "The Nightingale and the Glow-Worm" tells the heartfelt story of a worm convincing a bird not to eat him. Children can imagine this strange world where creatures have a human-like conversation, and a symbolic reading reveals that both the nightingale and the worm come from the same source -- thus, the worm should be spared.
Symbolism in children's poetry often has a humorous quality intended to make kids laugh, according to the "Booklights" website sponsored by the Public Broadcasting System. Dr. Seuss poems are full of nonsensical words, funny situations, humorous plot lines and laughable characters that represent deeper concepts. For example, a silly elephant converses with a sour kangaroo and befriends a piece of dust to show that everyone deserves to be heard, and a brown, mossy creature protects extraordinary trees to show his concern for the environment. Despite the fact that these amusing and whimsical creatures could never truly exist, they represent real-life issues that most children either currently face or will encounter as they grow up.
Children's poetry contains tangible items, such as animals, trees, flowers, people, food, insects and trains, but it also explores abstract and philosophical ideas. Symbolism in poetry gives young minds a chance to understand intangible concepts, according to the Scholastic Teachers website. Children's poetry often reveals deeper messages about humanity -- loyalty, friendship, compassion, anger, happiness, loneliness, love and respect. For example, "Puppy and I" by A. A. Milne talks of the friendship between a child and his dog, and the 18th-century poem "Casabianca" reveals the undying love a boy has for his father.
Poets use symbolism when they write children's poetry to make the emotional content more believable and more bearable. Otherwise, emotions such as sadness after the death of someone special, anger over injustices and fear of the unknown would be too burdensome for young minds to bear. The withering decline of a tree and the slow blooming stages of a flower are much easier to comprehend than the death of a loved one or the coming-of-age process. For example, Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" uses a bird that won't leave to explore the grief that accompanies death and how difficult it can be to come to grips with intense sorrow.