Grade X CBSE

1. Carl Sandburg

2. About The Poet
 Carl Sandburg was a well known American editor and writer and
above all best known for his poems.
 He has won three Pulitzer prizes, in which two were for his
poetry and one for the biography written about Abraham
Lincoln. He began his writing career as a journalist for the
Chicago Daily News.
 He worked in various sectors before turning to a full writer and
even joined the military, but was never called to a battle.
 Most of his poems were about Chicago where he lived. Among
his collection the “Fog” is the shortest poem and a poem that has
strong reflections.

3. The Poem
 In the poem FOG, Sandburg has put in hardly 25 words, but yet
the poem does have a deeper and strong meaning.
 Carl Sandburg's poem, "Fog," is among the few exceptions that
mark Sandburg's break from free verse poetry.
 Fog", a mere six lines long, is written in verse-form and is an
innocent expression of finding beauty in an ordinary world.
 The first two lines of the poem just simply describe how a fog
comes in. usually fogs are seen in cold areas or in mountains or
forests.
 However, in this poem the poet describes about fog in cities and a
harbor.

4. The Poem

5. The Poem
 In the poem FOG, Sandburg has put in hardly 25 words, but yet
the poem does have a deeper and strong meaning.
 Carl Sandburg's poem, "Fog," is among the few exceptions that
mark Sandburg's break from free verse poetry.
 Fog", a mere six lines long, is written in verse-form and is an
innocent expression of finding beauty in an ordinary world.
 The first two lines of the poem just simply describe how a fog
comes in. usually fogs are seen in cold areas or in mountains or
forests.
 However, in this poem the poet describes about fog in cities and a
harbor.

6. The Poem
 He gives a wonderful comparison between the fog and a kitten.
 When a kitten comes around us, most of the time it just comes so
slowly that you hardly notice, till you see it or feel it.
 The same is the case with the fog. An arrival of fogs cannot be
predicted.
 It just comes in and engulfs the entire place that it is and stays on
for some time, creating trouble for anyone in between it, but still
stays as though it is not aware of the happenings around it.

7. The Poem
 The narrator further develops the comparison between cat and fog
in the second stanza of the poem. In this stanza, the fog has arrived
above the city where It sits looking / over harbor and city much as a
cat does when it arrives at its destination.
 The cat will sit and look out over the land or cityscape. Cats, from
wild to domesticated, have a habit, maybe an instinct, of looking
over their surroundings from elevated spots. For example, the
cougar watches from the mountaintop or ledge, the lion from a hill
overlooks the plains, and the house cat gazes from a tree branch or
window ledge.
 In each case, the cat acts as if it is the master of its universe, yet it
holds many secrets that are never revealed. Cats are notoriously
fickle, refusing to be trained or to succumb to others' expectations
of them.
 Similarly, the fog, because of its power and mystery, remains elusive
to those wishing to break through its impenetrable walls.

8. The Poem
 The narrator further develops the comparison between cat and fog
in the second stanza of the poem. In this stanza, the fog has arrived
above the city where It sits looking / over harbor and city much as a
cat does when it arrives at its destination.
 The cat will sit and look out over the land or cityscape. Cats, from
wild to domesticated, have a habit, maybe an instinct, of looking
over their surroundings from elevated spots. For example, the
cougar watches from the mountaintop or ledge, the lion from a hill
overlooks the plains, and the house cat gazes from a tree branch or
window ledge.
 In each case, the cat acts as if it is the master of its universe, yet it
holds many secrets that are never revealed. Cats are notoriously
fickle, refusing to be trained or to succumb to others' expectations
of them.
 Similarly, the fog, because of its power and mystery, remains elusive
to those wishing to break through its impenetrable walls.

9. The Poem
 Next, the narrator states that the fog is sitting on silent
haunches as it looks out over the harbor and city, and,
indeed, few creatures can sit as silently and patiently as
the cat. Cats typically sit on their haunches as they stare
out at the world.
 This particular stance, unique to the cat, enables them to
keep watch over their surroundings, but also be ready to
take off if necessary. When a cat is on its haunches, they
cannot be captured because it is easy for them to escape
with a quick jump. This stance also implies that their
presence is always temporary. Cats, like fog, are always
ready to move on when it pleases them.


10. The Poem
 Next, the narrator states that the fog is sitting on silent
haunches as it looks out over the harbor and city, and,
indeed, few creatures can sit as silently and patiently as
the cat. Cats typically sit on their haunches as they stare
out at the world.
 This particular stance, unique to the cat, enables them to
keep watch over their surroundings, but also be ready to
take off if necessary. When a cat is on its haunches, they
cannot be captured because it is easy for them to escape
with a quick jump. This stance also implies that their
presence is always temporary. Cats, like fog, are always
ready to move on when it pleases them.


11. The Poem
 Finally, the narrator explains that after looking over
harbor and city the fog then moves on.
 Cats are known to be wandering creatures, stopping for a
time and then moving on from destination to
destination.
 Again, the fog is compared to the cat in that the fog
hovers silently, but it never stays in one place too long.
Fog either rolls on to another destination or disappears
altogether.

12. The Poem
 The next four lines of the poem states that it just comes, sit at the
harbor and looks at the city and is at the silent haunches and
then finally moves on.
 Here the poet has described what happens once the fog has
arrived.

13. The Poem
 Now, Fogs as such do not cause any harm, as it is silent and the
onset is slow. However, when the fog is around, especially in the
city, many accidents may occur for the only reason that people
cannot see anything in-between them.
 There are occasions, when people fall into telephone holes, cars
may hit onto each other.
 People may walk up the wrong place, at the harbor, boats may
drive up on the wrong bridges, or they may drive up on another
boat and many such instances.
 Therefore, a fog just comes in like a small and silent kitten, and
just sits and watches the beauty, but when it is over a city, the
incidents caused by the fog are many.

14. The Poem
 And the last line states that , just a small child, who gets bored
playing the same game over and over again or just by seeing the
same sight again and again, and moves on to the next, similarly,
the fog also does not stay in one place for a long time.
 After some time,
 This is a very small poem describing the nature’s act in a
beautiful manner. after the pranks are over, the fog also moves
on.