Class X- Poem - 9 ( First Flight )-"Fog"-by Carl Sandburg

Fog 

by Carl Sandburg

 

About the Poet

Carl August Sandburg (1878-1967) was an American poet, writer and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes- two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. He wrote poems like grass, analysis, Chicago, etc.

 Central Idea of the Poem

The poet Carl Sandburg in his poem ‘Fog’ describes fog as a ‘cat’. This description of fog as a living creature shows the poet’s interest in the wonders and beauties of nature. To him, the coming of fog resembles the way a cat comes silently on little cat feet. Like a cat, the fog sits on its haunches and like a cat’s gaze, the fog looks over the harbour and the city. Just like a cat keeps moving and hardly stays at one place, the fog also slowly moves on and vanishes.

Summary of the Poem

The poet says that the fog which is generally seen during the winter season is coming towards the city and the harbour just like a cat. This means that it is approaching the city in a very silent manner so that no one can notice its arrival. He has compared its arrival to that of a cat because a cat always enters a place silently. Next he says that the fog has covered the whole of the city and harbour and it appears as if it is sitting by folding its legs and looking around just the way a cat does when it sits on the haunches and looks around. At the end, he describes the departure of the fog which very silently and unpredictably, again, similar to the departure of the cat, vanishes.

EXPLANATION OF THE POEM

The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbour and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

WORD MEANINGS

Fog: It is a thick cloud of tiny water droplets present in the atmosphere, especially in winter.
Harbour; Port, dock
on haunches: sitting with knees bent

 EXP-The poet is describing  fog. Fog is a thick cloud of tiny water droplets present in the atmosphere. It is generally seen during the winter season. Here the poet describes the advancement of fog towards the city and the harbour. He says the fog comes like a cat comes on its little feet. This means the fog advances towards the city very slowly and calmly just like a cat. One never knows how and when the fog will enter the city. Therefore, fog is compared to the cat which enters our home in an unpredictable manner. Next he says that the fog sits over the whole of the city as a cat sits silently by folding her legs behind itself and looks around the nearby places and things. Similarly, it seems that the fog silently covers the whole of the city and the harbour and is sitting over them looking around like a cat. After a while the fog leaves the city and moves on. The poet says so because it is a natural phenomenon that fog does not stay at a place for long and leaves the place after a few hours. So, here also the poet says that just like a cat, the fog leaves the place very silently without being noticed by anyone.

Literary devices:
Metaphor: Fog is compared to cat (On little cat feet)
Rhyme scheme: There is no rhyme scheme followed. Poem is in free verse
Enjambment: When a sentence continues to next line (It sits looking….. then moves on)
Personfication: fog has been personified - Fog comes, it sits

 

TEXT BOOK - Question and Answers

Q1-

I. What does Sandburg think the fog is like?

Ans- Sandburg thinks the fog is like a cat that comes silently so that no one can sense it arrival.

II. How does the fog come?

Ans- As per the poet the fog comes very silently like a cat.

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

Ans- ‘It’ refers to the fog

IV. 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.

Ans- The three things that tell us that the fog is like a cat are as follows:

1. The fog comes on its little cat feet: This means that the fog enters silently just like cat.
2. It sits looking over harbour and city: The fog is compared to cat as cats also like to sit and look here and there and fog is also looking while it sits over the city.
3. On silent haunches and then moves on: The fog sits on her bended legs just like cat and then moves away very quickly and silently, just like a cat.

 

Q2- Does this poem have a rhyme scheme? Poetry that does not have and obvious rhythm or rhyme is called ‘free verse’.
Ans- There is no rhyme scheme in the poem. It has neither internal nor external rhyme scheme. Hence, we can say that it is in free verse.

EXTRA- Question and Answers

Extract Based Questions

Read the lines given below and answer the questions that follow:
Question 1. The fog comes on little cat feet It sits looking over harbour and city on silent haunches and then moves on.

(a) The ‘it’ in these lines is ………….
(b) “It” has been compared to a ……………..
(c) The figure of speech used in these lines is …………
(d) Name the Poem and the Poet.
OR
(a) The fog is compared to ……………
(b) The fog sits looking over …………….
(c) The figure of speech used in these lines is ………..
(d) Name the Poem and its composer.

Answer: (a) the fog.
(b) cat.
(c) Personification/Analogy
(d) The Poem ‘Fog’ is written by Carl Sandburg.
OR
(a) a cat.
(b) harbour and city.
(c) personification/Analogy
(d) The Poem ‘Fog’ has been composed by Carl Sandburg

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1. What does Sandburg think the fog is like ?
OR
What does the poet compare the fog to ?

Answer: Carl Sandburg compares the fog to a cat. The metaphorical expression ‘on little cat feet’ implies that the fog approaches noiselessly and stealthily, just like a cat.

Question 2.  According to the poet in what respect is the fog similar to a cat ? Do you think the comparison made is appropriate ?
Answer: The poet Carl Sandburg observes the analogy between the fog and the behaviour of a cat. The approach of the fog is silent and noiseless, stealthily advancing on its silent, ‘paws’. From a distance it seems like a cat on its haunches cautiously analysing its surroundings before it engulfs the entire city and the harbour in its folds.

Question 3. What is the rhyming scheme in the poem ?
Answer: The poem does not have a rhyming scheme. This style of poetry is called free verse.

Question 4. How does the poet compare fog to a living being?
Answer: The poet compares the fog to a cat. The silent steps of a cat and the way it sits on its haunches is very similar to the way fog comes and surrounds the city and looks over it.

Question 5. What image does the poet give to the fog? What are the similarities between that image and fog?
Answer: The poet looks at fog as a living creature and compares it to a cat. The fog moves like a cat on little cat feet and sits on haunches like a cat.

 

Long Answer Type Question

Question 1. What does the poet want to convey through the poem ‘Fog’ ?
Answer: The poet ‘Carl Sandburg” takes pleasure in nature. He states that when difficulties are faced by people, they become hopeless and shattered. It takes a lot of courage to overcome any problem and to solve it. The poet has compared difficulties to fog, he states that as fog comes and goes in the same manner difficulties come and go. Our should not loose hope and should be brave enough to face problems; rather find solutions as difficulties will soon disappear and leave soon.

Question 2. Difficulties come but they are not to stay forever. They come and go. Comment referring to the poem ‘Fog’.
Answer: Difficulties, when faced by people, tend to leave them hopeless and shattered. It takes a lot of courage to overcome any problem and to solve it. If we take a clue from the poem and compare difficulties to fog, we find that just like fog, difficulties also come and go.
One need not be hopeless and lose courage when problems come, one should rather think of it as fog, meaning that it has not come to stay but will always leave, like fog.

Question 3. Nature has many wonders that people take for granted and never pay attention to. How is the poem ‘Fog’ different from this perspective?
Answer: The poet has taken utmost pleasure in nature and natural phenomenon like fog. Fog is so special to the poet that he cared enough not only to write about it, but also thinks of its resemblance with other things in the world. In his close attention to fog, he found fog resembles a cat, in the way it moves and sits on its haunches. The fact that such a resemblance was found by the poet shows how connected he is to various things in nature. This poem serves as a motivation for people, who take nature for granted to find such interesting comparisons and similarities around them.