Fog || Class 10th Poem, Detail Study

 

 Fog || Class 10th Poem

Fog

By Carl Sandburg

1- Introduction

2- Poem Explanation

3- Poetic Devices

4- Word-Meaning

5- Textbook Exercises

6- Exam Practice 

7- To Conclude

1-Introduction

This is a very beautiful poem named fog which is written by Carl Sandburg. Here the poet beautifully compares the coming and disappearing of the fog to a cat. No one notice and get disturbed by the coming and disappearing of the fog.

Carl Sandburg was an American poet, journalist, editor and a biographer. He won three Pulitzer prizes. Two for his poetry and one for the biography of AbrPractcoln written by him. Fog poem first appeared in his mainstream collection of poems.

2- Poem Explanation

The fog comes

 On little cat feet.

 It sits looking 

over harbour and city

on silent haunches

 and then,  moves on.

Explanation

 The poet in the above line says that the fog comes very silently just like a cat that comes silently on its little feet. Further, the poet added, just like a cat sits silently by folding her knees and looks around the nearby places and things in the same way, the fog also sits over harbour and the city and it covers everything. After some time the fog disappears from the harbour and the city quietly, just like the cat moves on silently without disturbing others.

3- Poetic Devices

• Metaphor – Is comparing two unlike objects or things that have some common qualities in them.

Fog is compare to a cat.

• Personification- It occurs when a poet gives human traits to non-living objects. It is similar to Simile and metaphor that also uses comparison.

Comparison of Fog with Cat.

• Rhyme Scheme- There are no rhyme, it means poem is written in free verse.

4- Word-Meaning

• on silent haunches- sitting with knees bent

• harbour- a place where ships load and unload

• fog- smog, haze

• silent- inaudible, noiseless

5- Textbook Exercises

1-A-What does Sandburg think the fog is like?

B-What does ‘it’ in the third line refer to? CBSE 2012

C-How does the fog come?

D-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- A- The poet thinks that the fog is like a cat.

B-‘it’ refers to the fog.

C-The fog comes silently like a cat on its small feet.

D-No the poet does not actually say that the fog is like a cat, instead he uses the metaphor for comparison between fog and cat.

Three things that tell us that the fog is like a cat are:

• It comes silently in the same manner like a cat comes on its small feet.

• 3,4, and 5 lines of the poem compare the fog with the cat that sits by folding it’s knees.

• In the concluding lines, the fog moves on silently just like a cat.

2- You know that a metaphor compares two things by transferring a feature of one thing to the other.

A Find metaphor for the following words and complete the table below. Also try to say how they are alike. 

• Storm – Tiger – growls

• Train – Snake – long rope

• Fire – Sun – symbolises power

• Home – Shelter – safety

3- Does this poem have a rhyme scheme? Poetry that does not have an obvious rhythm or rhyme is called ‘free verse'.

Ans- This poem does not have a rhyme scheme, as the lines in the poem do not end with like sounds. In this poem, there is no pattern of similarity in the ending words of the lines. Such a poem is called free verse.

6- Exam Practice

i-How does the poet compare fog to a cat?

Ans- The poet compares the fog to a cat because of similarity in their movements. Also silent steps of a cat and the way it sits are both very similar to the way fog comes and surrounds the harbour and city.

ii-What Image does the poet give to the fog? What are the similarities between that image and fog?

Ans- The poet compares the  fog with  the living creature that is cat. The fog covers a place suddenly and disappears in the same way just like the coming and going of a cat.

iii- The poem fog states/presents fog, as full of opposing forces. Do you agree? Justify your answer.

Ans- Yes, I agree that the poem presents fog as full of opposite forces. Fog comes and goes quickly and quietly just like cat. It covers harbour and the city and looks very carefully like cat.

iv- Difficulties come but they do not stay forever. They come and go. Comment on this statement by referring to the poem fog.

Ans- In the poem Fog, the poet presents the natural phenomenon of fog as a temporary visitor. It comes like a cat, looks over the harbour and city and soon leaves the place. It leaves as quietly as it comes.

It takes a lot of courage to face problems and sort out them. So one should never loose hope and courage, but rather think of that fog will disappear soon.

8-To Conclude

I have tried my best to cover all the important exercises related to this poem. If any doubts you can reach me through the comment section below and I will get back to you as soon as possible. For other chapter and poems related to class 10 CBSE board please visit my home page.   Thank you. 

 All the very best for your upcoming exams... 

Class 10th English