Fog

Summary

The poem ‘Fog’ by Carl Sandburg describes the arrival of the fog into the city and the harbour. He compares the fog as a cat which moves stealthily. He further describes the fog as entering the city and covering the whole city. The poet compares the fog to the cat who is sitting on its haunches. Finally, the fog moves silently and in an unpredictable manner; similar to the cat and vanishes.

Comprehension Questions 

Answer the following questions in 30-40 words: 

1. Why does the poet compare the fog to a cat? 

The poet compares the fog to a cat because it comes and moves silently like the cat. 

2. How does the fog come? 

The fog enters silently as the cat without making any noise. 

3. What is the fog looking at? 

The fog is sitting on its haunches like the cat and watching over the harbour and the city.

4. What image does the poet create about fog? How does he compare with the image? 

The poet imagines the fog as a living creature and compares it to a cat. The fog moves like the cat on its little feet, sits on its haunches and looks over the harbour and the city.

Answer the following questions in 100-120 words:

1. Difficulties come but they are not to stay forever. Comment on this expression with reference to the poem ‘The Fog’. 

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 the fog, difficulties also come and go. One need not be hopeless and lose courage when problems come, one should rather think of it as a fog, meaning that it has not come to stay but will always leave. 

2. Nature has many wonders that people take for granted and never pay attention to. How is the poem ‘Fog’ different from this perspective? 

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.

Questions from the text book. 

Thinking about the Text

1.

i. What does Sandburg think the fog is like? 

Sandburg thinks the fog is like a cat that comes silently. 

ii. How does the fog come? 

According to the poet, the fog comes silently like a cat. 

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

The ‘it’ in the third line 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. 

Yes, the poet compares the fog with the cat. The three things that tell us this are: 

1. ‘The fog comes on little feet’: the fog comes like a cat silently. 

2. It sits looking over harbor and city: the fog is sitting quietly looking over the harbor and the city. 

3. On silent haunches and moves on: the fog sits like the cat with its knees bent and moves away quickly and silently like the cat.

2. Find metaphors for the following words and complete the table below. Also try to say how they are alike. The first one is done for you.

Practice

Q1 Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow. 

(a) The fog comes……. moves on 

i. How does the fog come? 

a. silently
b. quickly
c. noisily
d. none of the above 

ii. Where does the fog look? 

a. over the city and harbour 

b. over the city
c. Over the harbour
d. none of the above 

iii. What does the fog do in the end?
a. sits quietly

 b. vanishes 

c. grows 

d. roars 

iv. ‘The fog comes on little feet.’ Name the figure of speech
a. Alliteration
b. Simile 

c. Personification
d. Hyperbole

(1) According to the poet, in what respect if the fog similar to the cat?

The poet Carl Sandburg draws a comparison between the fog and the cat. The fog approaches the city silently like the cat stealthily moving on its paws. From a distance the fog similar to the cat seems sitting on its haunches analyzing the surroundings and then takes over the city and harbor.

(2) What does the poet convey through the poem ‘The Fog’?
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 too come and go. One should be brave in the face of difficulties and face them.