- The wine
- Herod's wine — called "red as blood, as hot as fire" — is the poem's central symbol. It represents his craving for power and pleasure, and its blood-red hue foreshadows the massacre. Drinking it helps him brace himself for the actions he is about to take.
- The sword
- Herod brandishes his sword in the stage direction, but he never actually uses it. The sword symbolizes royal authority that is empty at its core — a performance for appearance’s sake, while the real violence is left to the soldiers in the street.
- The window
- Herod's decision to stand at the window and watch the slaughter instead of taking part shows him as a coward who hides behind his power. The window acts as a barrier between him and the consequences of his orders — it symbolizes the moral distance that tyrants create between themselves and the harm they inflict.
- The voice of lamentation
- The final stage direction — a cry of grief from the street — resonates with the biblical passage in Matthew where Rachel weeps for her children. It represents the voice of all mothers mourning their lost sons, serving as the poem's moral core, the one sound that Herod's arrogance can’t drown out.
- The crown and sceptre
- Herod's fixation on his crown and sceptre shows that his violent actions stem from a deep fear of losing his status. He is focused on safeguarding these symbols of kingship, and the poem highlights that, for him, protecting them justifies sacrificing countless children's lives.