Divinity
God and the supernatural aspects related to a religious beliefs play an important role in the poems within this collection. Poems like "The Angel with the Broken Wing" or "The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet" are packed with references to either God himself or an aspect of the divine actions on the planet. As a Christian, Dana Gioia also includes many references to the origin myth of the bible into his poems. However, the power of the divine is not presented as an absolute force that dominates humanity. The concept that the divine is as dependent on the human as the other way round create an equilibrium within his poetry.
Passion
Passion as a powerful force inherent to the human being is a recurrent theme in the collection Pity the Beautiful. Dana Gioia goes as far as to compare the creation of mankind as an act of passion in "The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet". In this comparison passion as a human emotion is heightened above all others, given power comparative to the divine. In "The Apple Orchard", passion is a force that burns so bright that the narrator wants to keep it brightest by not acting on it. However, passion that is not allowed to develop into love is doomed to fail.
Love
Love appears in different shapes in the poetry of Dana Gioia. While love between humans is a central theme in "The Apple Orchard", its existence is always dependent on the actions of the humans. Love of God for humanity is sometimes hinted at, like in "The Angel with the Broken Wing". However, in which form or shape this divine love is manifested is often left for the audience to decide.
Beauty
The titular poem "Pity the Beautiful" hints at the level of thought Dana Gioia has put into human beauty. While the poem itself warns the audience that beauty is something temporal, "The Angel with the Broken Wing" describes a different kind of, an eternal beauty. However, in a similar way, the eternal beauty is more a prison than a present for the protagonist.
