Tormentil appears in poetry associated with healing (historically used for pain, thus "torment"), protection, and modest beauty. The bright yellow flowers on mat-forming plants create golden patches. In moorland poetry, tormentil represents low-growing beauty and traditional medicinal plants. Its name suggests pain relieved. Poets use tormentil to represent healing, plants with medical rather than merely ornamental purposes, and the small bright beauties of rough grasslands that require stooping to appreciate fully, representing attention to detail and healing humble plants.

Tormentil, bearing four-petalled yellow flowers, differs from the typical five-petalled rose family pattern, which can interest poets attentive to botanical detail. Traditionally used medicinally, it symbolises healing and endurance. Found in heaths and grasslands, it contributes to imagery of open, windswept landscapes and understated rural life.