Fog

Fog

                                                                  By Carl Sandburg

Analysis:

·       ‘Fog’ is a six lines poem composed by Carl Sandburg, an American poet, biographer, journalist and editor.

·       The poem ‘Fog’ captures the mysterious and fleeting nature of fog, using the metaphor of a cat to convey its silent, creeping movement and transient quality. This way the poet suggests that just like fog human life is also transient and has to perish one day. 

·       It is a simple and short poem which metaphorically presents fog as a cat who appears secretly and disappears softly. The poet wants to give fog a form employing Imagery and personification so wonderfully and successfully. It is composed as free verse.

·       The poet conveys that the fog has transient existence, still envelops entire city in its grip for some moments, and that every entity in the universe has its own value. It discusses how the least significant thing in nature can be viewed as an individual entity and has its own significance. Even the most trivial and insignificant things can impact our life largely.

·    Tone of the poem is philosophical as the poet conveys that every entity of nature has its own significance and our life is transient and short lived just like fog.

Line by Line Explanation

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The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbour and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

The opening line sets the stage, announcing the arrival of fog. The use of the word "comes" suggests a gradual, slow and quiet entrance giving fog a form and identity of a cat using personification. The poem compares the slow movement of the fog to the small and stealthy steps of a cat. This creates an image of the fog creeping in silently and softly, and with certain grace of a cat. The fog seems to take on a deliberately slow action, as if it makes a conscious action. 

The word "sits" implies a settled or stationary state of a cat describing the fog settling on every thing in the city. The fog extends its presence over both the city and the harbour at the outskirts of city. This expansion of the fog's reach adds to its all pervasive and encompassing nature speaking of its significance as every other entity of nature. This line continues the imagery of the fog as a cat, now describing it as sitting on "silent haunches." This reinforces the idea that fog very quietly envelops entire world and impacts everyone in the world again speaking of its significance. 

It then, moves on, suggesting that its presence is temporary, and it will eventually dissipate or shift to another location. The poem conveys that fog is transient; it doesn't linger indefinitely just like human life which has a beginning and an end, too.

Video on the Poem Fog

Rhyme Scheme of the poem

 The poem is composed in free verse having no rhyming scheme.

 

Poetic Devices:

The fog comes – Personification

on little cat feet.  – Consonance, Metaphor, Imagery  

It sits looking – Assonance, Personification, Imagery

over harbour and city – Imagery, Consonance, enjambment

on silent haunches - Enjambment

and then moves on. – Consonance, Personification 

 

Theme of the poem

This poem is a metaphorical interpretation of fog. It conveys that even the least significant thing in nature can be viewed as an individual entity and has its own significance. Even the most trivial and insignificant things can impact our life largely. 

There is also an underlying message that every entity of nature has its own significance however short lived it is. Human life is also transient and temporary just like fog which comes, envelops the city and then goes away quietly.

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RTC

The fog comes

On little cat feet

It sits looking

Over harbour and city

On silent haunches

And then moves on.

Q1. What is the fog compared to?

Q2. What does the phrase ‘little cat feet’ mean?

Q3. What does ‘it’ in the third line refer to?

Q4. Pick out the poetic device used in third line.

Q5. What philosophy is conveyed through the poem?

Q6. How is Imagery used to describe the fog?

Answers:

1. The fog is compared to a cat.

2. The phrase 'little cat feet' means that fog comes silently and slowly just as a cat comes on its small feet that are soft and light and don't make sound as it walks slowly and softly.

3. ‘It’ refers to fog which is compared to a cat.

4. In third line the poet uses the poetic device 'personification'  to give fog the attributes of a creature and he uses metaphor by comparing it with a cat.

5. The poem conveys the philosophy that life is transient and short lived. Just as fog comes quietly, stays for some time and then disappears same way we take birth and come in this world, live our life fully and then, die and leave this world quietly.

6. Through imagery the poet describes the fog to come quietly and sit on haunches like a cat, envelop the city and harbour in its grip and move away quietly.