The dolphin has been a companion to sailors in myth, often depicted as a rescuer and a guide to lost souls, carrying a sunny, almost divine benevolence in Greek and Roman poetry. Its sleek, smiling appearance and acrobatic displays evoke freedom, intelligence, and the pure pleasure of movement in water. Poets use the dolphin to represent the bright, communicative aspects of nature, the bonds of community, and the surface delights that float above the darker abysses, making it a counterpoint to the whale's heavy profundity.

The dolphin occupies a unique position in poetry as one of the few animals consistently depicted as friendly, intelligent, and benevolent toward humans. In classical myth, dolphins rescue sailors, guide lost souls, and carry the dead to the afterlife, giving them a liminal, almost divine status. Modern poets like Robert Lowell and Carol Ann Duffy have used the dolphin to explore themes of freedom, captivity, and the ethics of human-animal relationships. The dolphin's playful leaps and curved dorsal fin make it a symbol of joy, grace, and the pleasures of the body in motion. When using this term, consider the contrast between the free dolphin of the open sea and the captive dolphin of the aquarium—a potent symbol for the loss of freedom and the ethics of entertainment.