In the song "Blowing in the Wind" by Bob Dylan, there's a verse that reads:
Yes, and how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
My question is, why he used "she" for a dove? What about other animals and other non-humans? Is there a general rule?
Answer
The reason he refers to the dove as "she" is actually very simple. It's because this is poetry. Lyrics don't always follow grammar rules and conventions.
In everyday English, the correct pronoun for an animal is "it", if the sex of the animal is unknown. If the sex is known, you would use the same pronoun as you would when referring to a human, "he" or "she", although you could still use "it".
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