Class X

Chapter-Fog
Poet- Carl Sandburg
ABOUT THE POEM

Introduction

"Fog" is an extremely short poem consisting of six lines divided into two sentencesThe poet captures a
natural phenomenon the appearance and disappearance of fog over harbour and city; and presents it in a
metaphorical manner. The movements of the fog are compared to those of a cat. However, the poem is
replete with beautiful imagery.

Summary

The poet observes the harbour and the city getting shrouded in fog which has come stealthily like a cat
moving silently on its feet and reaching its destination without prior warning. The comparison between the
fog and the cat continues as the poet portrays the fog settle over the harbour and the city just as a cat sits
quietly looking around.
Again, the fog disappears without getting noticed just as the cat leaves one place and moves towards
another in a silent, quiet manner. Cats, like fog, never stay for long at one place and are ever ready to
move on to their next destination.
to the next destination.

The poem presents the images of the fog hovering over the surroundings and then disappearing as well as
the picture of a cat. sitting on its haunches, looking around and then moving away. Through the usage of
metaphor, personification and imagery, the poem vividly portrays a phenomenon of nature.

THEME

The poem records the poet's observation of the fog quietly appearing over the city and harbour of Chicago,
its hovering over the surrounding for a short time and then its quick and quiet retreat.

The poem shows how a complete natural phenomenon can be vividly portrayed in a few words. The fluid
movements of the fog have been appropriately compared to the stealthy and swift movements of a cat. The
metaphor of the cat for the fog and the imagery used make the poem a rich, literary feast.

MESSAGE

The poem does not have any message to convey. It only presents the elusive nature of fog which dawns on
a place stays for some time and and then retreats as stealthily and swiftly as it had appeared. The poem is
based on the poet's experience of the fog which engulfed the harbour and city of Chicago for a short time
and then disappeared.
The poet has recorded the experience in a literary, metaphorical manner by comparing the movements and
manners of the fog to those of a cat.

TITLE

The whole poem tells the story of the fog that appears, lingers on and then gradually vanishes from the
scene. The poem has rightly been given the title Fog. The poet could have extended the metaphor of the
cat in the title itself and cat could have also found a place in the title but probably keeping in view the
shortness of the poem, the poet has chosen a brief crisp title "Fog".

LITERARY DEVICES

1.Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that is used to make a comparison between two things that aren't alike but
do have something in common. Unlike a simile, where two things are compared directly using likeor as, a
metaphor's comparison is more indirect, usually made by stating something is something else'. A metaphor
is very expressive; it is not meant to be taken literally'.

The whole of the poem "Fog" is an extended metaphor. The poet compares the fog to a cat in the second
line:

Example:

The fog comes

on little cat feet and continues the comparison till the end.

2.Imagery

Imagery in poetry refers to the mental pictures or images which are evoked in the minds of the readers
through words in a literary work.

Imagery makes a poem graphic and more appealing.

The poem "Fog," though small, is rich in imagery. The following images are noteworthy:

-The image of the city and the harbour engulfed in fog.

-The image of a cat sitting on its haunches looking at the city.
-The image of the cat moving away stealthily.

3.Transferred Epithet

Transferred Epithet is a poetic device in which an adjective is used not with the noun which it normally
qualifies but with some other noun.

Example:

on silent haunches

then retreats as stealthily and swiftly as it had appe

Here it is the cat that is silent, not the haunches

4. Enjambment:

It is a poetic device in which a line runs on to the next line or lines.

carrying on the idea without a punctuation mark (a comma, or a full stop) at the end of a line.

Examples:

The fog comes on little cat feet.

Here the first line rolls on to the next without full stop or comma at its end.

It sits looking over harbour and city on silent haunches and then moves on.

Here there is no pause at the end of first three lines and the full stop comes only at the end of the fourth
line.

RHYME SCHEME
The poem has no rhyme scheme as it is written in free verse. There is a unique compatibility between the
theme and the style of the poem. Just as fog is something indistinct and formless, the poet has deliberately
not given any specific rhyme scheme to it.

QUESTIONS ANSWERS

Q1. What does Sandburg think the fog is like?

The poet finds a marked resemblance between a cat and a fog. Just as a cat appears and disappears
quietly, the fog also comes and goes without any noise.

Q2. How does the fog come?

The fog comes quietly and stealthily. It comes absolutely unnoticed as it appears noiselesslyIts creepy, and
sneaky movements are comp Sudden, stealthy and swift those of a cat. There is no prior warning or
indication of the arrival of the fog.

Q3. Does the poet actually say that the fog is like a cat? Find three things that tell us that the fog is like a
cat?

No, the poet does not directly say that the fog is like a cat. He compares the two in a metaphorical manner
stating that fog arrives on its little cat feet.'
The fog and the cat are similar in their movements and behaviour. The fog descends on a city suddenly,
stealthily and silently just as a cat arrives at some place without any warning.
The fog settles down on some place and stays there for some time just as a cat sits on its haunches for
some time looking at the surrounding quietly. Again, the fog disappears silently and imperceptibly just as a
cat leaves a place to go to another.

Q4 How obes the poet present fog as a living being?

Fog is a natural phenomenon which occurs as per natural laws but it is inanimateIt is the poet's imagination
to present it as a living being which he does by comparing it to a cat. The poet uses the words 'comes,' 'sits'
and 'moves on to project fog as a living being. It comes stealthily like a cat, sits over the city and harbour
just like a cat looks at the surroundings and then retreats just as a cat goes away quietly.

Q5. What kind of visual imagery is found in the poem "Fog"?

Carl Sandburg's poem "Fog", though very small, is full of visual imagery. The poet portrays the harbour and
the city engulfed in fog. There is also the picture of a cat coming stealthily, sitting on its haunches and
moving away. In fact, the whole poem consists of the images of fog over the city and of a cat.

Q6. How does the poet emphasize the silence of the city and the harbour?

Although Carl Sandburg's poem "Fog" has a city and harbour as its perspective, no activities and no
sounds are a part of the scene. The city and the town are portrayed to be shrouded in fog which hovers
over the place for some time and then disappears. The silence of the city is not disturbed by the fog as it
arrives, lingers on, and then retreats quietly and stealthily. The poem is like a still-life painting of the fog-
covered city and harbour.