What is the significance of the symbolism in Jane Kenyon's poem "The Blue Bowl"?

There is symbolism at work at various points throughout this poem. The opening line itself describes the grieving family, burying their cat, as being "like primitives," using whatever tools come to hand—in this case, the cat's own bowl. We could read this as symbolizing the primal and eternal nature of death, which has happened to every being since the beginning of time and which, although it affects us deeply, we must deal with in practical ways. Here, the use of the cat's bowl as a spade represents the necessity of using the tools around us—often the most basic of tools—to deal with grief and bereavement.

Another very key piece of symbolism in this poem is the description of the weather. This is an example of what is termed "pathetic fallacy," where the weather represents an external manifestation of a character's emotional state. The speaker has made it clear that the grief felt about the death of the cat is not going to simply vanish—on the contrary, it has affected the family deeply, leaving them to "stare" dully all day. However, the clearing of the storm symbolizes the fact that this grief will, eventually, pass: just as the weather changes and becomes sunny and clear again, the pain we feel over bereavements will also give way to lighter feelings. This is simply part of nature.

The language of Jane Kenyon’s poem titled “The Blue Bowl” can be interpreted as symbolic in a number of different ways, including the following:

• The dead cat can be seen as a symbol of the death of any beloved person or thing.
• The fact that that cat’s grave must be dug (and/or filled in) with the cat’s own bowl can be seen as symbolizing the irony of death – the fact that it can come at “inappropriate” times and must simply be coped with in whatever ways possible, even if those ways may seem crude and may have to be improvised.
• The fact that the bowl is “blue” (rather than some lighter, brighter, more “pleasant” color, such as yellow) may symbolize the depressing situation the poem describes.
• The beauty of the cat may symbolize the fact that death spares nothing and no one; the dirt, symbolizing the irreversible nature of death, falls into the grave

. . . with a hiss  
and thud on his side,
on his long red fur, the white feathers
between his toes, and his
long, not to say aquiline, nose. (5-9)

The loving detail with which the speaker remembers the last image of the cat may symbolize our reluctance to yield a beloved thing or person to death without paying proper tribute, if only the tribute of memory.

• Lines 10-11 may symbolize the common human need to get back to the normal routines of daily life, even when those routines have been interrupted by death.
• Line 11, in particular, may symbolize the effort to be “realistic” when we are faced with irreversible losses.
• Lines 12-13 may symbolize the return to routine, but a return that is still strained and uncomfortable.
• The storm mentioned in line 13 may symbolize the unsettled feelings of the characters the poem presents.
• The clearing of the storm in line 14 may symbolize the return to normality.
• The final symbolism of the singing robin almost interprets itself thanks to the simile in lines 16-17:

. . . a robin
burbles from a dripping bush
like the neighbor who means wellbut always says the wrong thing.  (14-17; emphasis added)

What does the cat symbolize in Jane Kenyon's "The Blue Bowl"?

"The Blue Bowl" by Jane Kenyon does not seem to be a highly symbolic poem, but the way the family handles the burial of the cat could be said to represent how people deal with all sorts of losses. 

The first eight lines of the poem read,

Like primitives we buried the cat

with his bowl. Bare-handed

we scraped sand and gravel

back into the hole. It fell with a hiss

and thud on his side,

on his long red fur, the white feathers

that grew between his toes, and his

long, not to say aquiline, nose (1-8).

We stood and brushed each other off. There are sorrows much keener than these. Silent the rest of the day, we worked, ate, stared, and slept. It stormed all night; now it clears, and a robin burbles from a dripping bush like the neighbor who means well but always says the wrong thing (9-16).