Central Idea of he 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.

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
Harbour – Port (a place where ships load and unload cargo)
Haunches – Hips

Exp – This short poem is an expression of the view of fog. For the poet, fog is not just a natural phenomenon, It is rather a creature. Fog has beef) compared with a cat as the way fog comes, is very similar to the ways of a cat. As a cat walks silently on its small feet, the fog also comes in the same manner, as if trying to avoid any attention. Fog’s presence over and around a city seems as if a cat is sitting silently on its haunches and looking over the harbour and the city. Finally, when fog leaves a city, it looks like a cat’s slow and silent steps moving on from a place.

Poetic Devices
Analogy Comparison of fog to a cat
Metaphor The use of cat for referring to fog
Rhyme Scheme
No rhyme. The Poem is in free verse.