There is actually a poem by Thomas Gray (1716-1771) called Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, about a cat who drowned in a china vase: I. 'TWAS on a lofty vase's side, Where China's gayest art had dy'd The azure flowers that blow; Demurest of the tabby kind, The pensive Selima reclin'd, Gaz'd on the lake below. See entire poem at http://www.potw.org/archive/potw90.html (And I think, technically, the plural is "goldfish".)