A scarecrow is made from old clothing, straw, wood, or other materials and stands as a substitute human presence among growing crops. Its practical purpose is simple, but its lonely posture and weathered appearance have made it a rich poetic figure. It can symbolise emptiness, neglect, comic ineffectiveness, guardianship, or a person reduced to mere outward form. Because it resembles a body without life, the scarecrow also lends itself to Gothic, autumnal, and meditative poems about identity, exposure, and mortality.

A scarecrow imitates the human figure in order to deter birds from eating newly sown seed or ripening crops. Its failure is common in poetry, where birds may perch upon it, turning authority into comedy. Because it resembles an empty or lifeless person, it can also symbolise loneliness, exposure, neglected duty, or uncertain identity. Related terms include field, crow, rag, straw, crop, guardian, effigy, harvest, and bird damage.