This MCQ module is based on: The Poem — Fog (Full Text, Annotated)
TOPIC 15 OF 17
The Poem — Fog (Full Text, Annotated)
🎓 Class 10
English
CBSE
Theory
Ch 8 — Mijbil the Otter
⏱ ~28 min
🌐 Language: [gtranslate]
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Myaischool Lt English Assessment
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[myaischool_lt_english_assessment grade_level="class_10" difficulty="intermediate"]
Before You Read — Anticipation Guide
Carl Sandburg's "Fog" is one of the most famous short poems in English — just six lines, one central metaphor, and yet an entire world of meaning. Consider these questions before you read.
Think 1: Have you ever seen fog settling over a city, a harbour, or a hillside? How did it move — quickly or slowly? Did it seem alive? Describe what fog looks like when it arrives and when it leaves.
Think 2: Cats are famous for moving silently and for their ability to sit absolutely still, observing everything around them before deciding what to do next. What similarities might you draw between a cat's behaviour and the behaviour of fog?
Think 3: A poem of just six lines can sometimes say more than a poem of sixty. How do you think a poet achieves maximum meaning in minimum words?
Vocabulary Warm-Up
Haunches The hip and thigh area; a crouching position
Harbour A sheltered area of water where ships dock
Haiku A Japanese poetic form — 17 syllables, 3 lines
Imagism A poetry movement focused on precise, clear images
Extended metaphor A metaphor sustained throughout a poem
Free verse Poetry without regular rhyme or metre
Reading Focus: (1) Identify the central metaphor — what is being compared to what? (2) How does the cat's behaviour map onto the fog's behaviour — what specific points of comparison does Sandburg make? (3) Why does the poem end so abruptly — what effect does this have? (4) What does the poem gain from being so short?
The Poem — Fog (Full Text, Annotated)
A Note on Form
"Fog" is written in free verse — it has no rhyme scheme and no fixed metre. It is also considered an Imagist poem — its entire effect rests on a single, perfectly chosen image (the cat metaphor). The poem has 6 lines and 21 words. Its power lies in what it does not say as much as what it does.
Fog
Stanza 1 (Lines 1–3) — The Arrival
1The fog comes
2on little cat feet.
3
Paraphrase: The fog arrives silently and softly — just as a cat moves on its padded paws, making no sound. Imagery
Analysis: These two lines establish the poem's central and only metaphor: fog = cat. The comparison works on multiple levels. Both fog and cats arrive without warning. Both move silently. Both seem to appear from nowhere. The simplicity is deliberate — Sandburg gives us the comparison immediately, without preamble, trusting the reader to feel its rightness.
Form note: "The fog comes / on little cat feet." — the line break after "comes" creates a tiny pause, a moment of anticipation, before we discover how it comes. This is masterly line-break technique: the pause mimics the silent, unexpected arrival of fog itself.
Analysis: These two lines establish the poem's central and only metaphor: fog = cat. The comparison works on multiple levels. Both fog and cats arrive without warning. Both move silently. Both seem to appear from nowhere. The simplicity is deliberate — Sandburg gives us the comparison immediately, without preamble, trusting the reader to feel its rightness.
Form note: "The fog comes / on little cat feet." — the line break after "comes" creates a tiny pause, a moment of anticipation, before we discover how it comes. This is masterly line-break technique: the pause mimics the silent, unexpected arrival of fog itself.
Stanza 2 (Lines 4–6) — The Observation and Departure
4It sits looking
5over harbour and city
6on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Paraphrase: The fog settles over the harbour and the city — crouching on its haunches like a cat that has found a perch and is gazing silently at the world below. Then, just as quietly as it came, it moves on. Personification Imagery
Analysis of "haunches": A cat sits on its haunches — crouching, still, watchful — before deciding to move. The word is precise and physical: it gives the fog a body, a posture, a temporary will. This is the heart of the poem's personification. The fog is not just moving — it is observing. It has agency, curiosity, detachment.
Analysis of "and then moves on": This is one of the most perfectly judged endings in English poetry. There is no explanation, no emotion, no farewell. The fog simply goes. This mirrors the actual behaviour of fog — and of cats — which appear, observe, and vanish without reason or apology. The abruptness of the ending is its entire power. Symbolism
Analysis of "haunches": A cat sits on its haunches — crouching, still, watchful — before deciding to move. The word is precise and physical: it gives the fog a body, a posture, a temporary will. This is the heart of the poem's personification. The fog is not just moving — it is observing. It has agency, curiosity, detachment.
Analysis of "and then moves on": This is one of the most perfectly judged endings in English poetry. There is no explanation, no emotion, no farewell. The fog simply goes. This mirrors the actual behaviour of fog — and of cats — which appear, observe, and vanish without reason or apology. The abruptness of the ending is its entire power. Symbolism
Extended Metaphor — Point by Point Analysis
| Cat Behaviour | Fog Behaviour | Line in Poem |
|---|---|---|
| Moves silently on padded feet | Arrives without sound or warning | "on little cat feet" |
| Settles and crouches, gazing around | Hangs over harbour and city, covering all | "sits looking / over harbour and city" |
| Crouches on haunches — still, watchful | Dense, low-lying, stationary fog | "on silent haunches" |
| Moves on without reason or warning | Disperses suddenly, leaving no trace | "and then moves on" |
Theme Web — Fog
Central Theme — Nature's Quiet Power: The poem's central statement is that natural phenomena — here, fog — possess a power that does not announce itself loudly. The fog's arrival is silent, its presence total, its departure abrupt. Sandburg presents nature as something that operates on its own terms, indifferent to human observation or judgment. This quiet power is more impressive than any dramatic spectacle.
Extended Metaphor — Fog as Cat: The entire poem rests on a single sustained metaphor: fog = cat. Every detail of the poem develops one aspect of this comparison — the silent arrival, the still watchfulness, the sudden departure. The metaphor works because it is unexpected yet instantly recognisable as true. Once you read it, you can never see fog without thinking of a cat.
Power of Brevity: "Fog" demonstrates that a poem does not need length to achieve depth. With 21 words and 6 lines, Sandburg creates a complete experience — arrival, presence, observation, departure. Every word is essential; none could be removed. The poem's brevity is an artistic choice that mirrors its subject: fog, like the poem, comes and goes quickly, leaving a lasting impression.
Transience and Impermanence: "And then moves on" — the poem's final phrase captures the essential transience of natural phenomena. Fog, like all weather, is temporary. The cat-like fog does not stay; it observes and leaves. This quality of impermanence is both the poem's subject and its form: even the poem itself, being so short, enacts the transience it describes.
Detached Observation: The fog "sits looking" — it is an observer, not a participant. It watches the harbour and city from above, with the cool detachment of a cat watching the world from a windowsill. This observing quality gives the fog an almost philosophical character: it sees everything but engages with nothing. The poem invites us to adopt a similarly detached, observant stance towards the world.
Imagism and Economy: Sandburg was associated with the Imagist movement in American poetry, which championed precise, concrete images over flowery abstraction. "Fog" is a perfect Imagist poem: it presents a single image (fog arriving like a cat) with absolute precision and zero decoration. Imagism's motto was "no ideas but in things" — this poem embodies that principle completely.
Literary Devices — Close Analysis
Extended Metaphor
The entire poem is one extended metaphor: fog = cat. Unlike a simple metaphor (one comparison, one moment), an extended metaphor sustains the comparison across every line. Every detail — the little feet, the sitting on haunches, the moving on — is a new facet of the same comparison.
Personification
Fog is given the qualities of a living creature — it "comes", "sits looking", and "moves on". These are volitional actions: things a being does by choice. The fog is presented as having agency, intention, and a quiet will of its own.
Imagery
"On little cat feet" — tactile and visual imagery combined. We can picture the soft, padded movement of cat's paws and feel the silence this implies. "On silent haunches" — a crouching, physical posture that gives fog a body we can visualise.
Symbolism
The fog's silent arrival and departure may symbolise the transient nature of all things — the way life, ideas, and even people arrive without warning and depart without reason. The harbour and city, left unchanged after the fog's passing, represent permanence contrasted with nature's transience.
Free Verse
The poem has no rhyme scheme (fog/city/feet/haunches do not rhyme) and no fixed metrical pattern. This freedom mirrors the fog's own formlessness — fog does not follow regular patterns. Free verse allows Sandburg to focus entirely on the image, unencumbered by the mechanics of rhyme or metre.
Enjambment
"The fog comes / on little cat feet" — the sentence runs over the line break without punctuation, creating a sense of smooth, continuous movement. The enjambment itself enacts the fog's uninterrupted flow. Similarly, "It sits looking / over harbour and city" flows smoothly across lines.
Vocabulary Builder — Key Words from the Poem
Haunches
noun (plural)
The hip, buttock, and upper thigh area of a human or animal. When an animal "sits on its haunches", it crouches with its weight on its back legs — a position of alert stillness.
"The cat sat on its haunches, watching the bird outside — still, patient, focused." In the poem: "on silent haunches" gives the fog a crouching, watchful posture.
Harbour
noun
A sheltered body of water where ships and boats can anchor safely. In the poem, the harbour represents the city's waterfront — both a practical location and a symbol of arrival and departure.
"The fog lay thick over the harbour, muffling the sounds of boats and water." The harbour is where fog is most commonly and dramatically seen.
Cat feet
noun phrase (metaphorical)
The padded, silent paws of a cat — used metaphorically to describe the fog's noiseless, soft arrival. Cat's feet make almost no sound even on hard surfaces.
"The fog comes on little cat feet" — the image makes us experience the fog's arrival as soundless, gentle, and unexpected.
Imagism
noun (literary term)
An early 20th-century movement in poetry that emphasised precise, clear images rather than abstract ideas or ornate language. Imagist poems are typically short and concrete.
"Fog is a perfect Imagist poem — it presents one precise image, with no unnecessary decoration or abstraction."
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Extract-Based Questions (CBQ) — Full Poem
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbour and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbour and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Q1. What is the central comparison in this poem? Name the literary device used.
L1 Recall
The central comparison is between fog and a cat. The fog's silent, soft arrival is compared to a cat walking on its padded feet; its settled, watchful presence over the city is compared to a cat sitting on its haunches; its quiet disappearance mirrors a cat moving on without warning. The literary device is an extended metaphor — a single comparison sustained across the entire poem.
Q2. "It sits looking / over harbour and city / on silent haunches." What qualities of the fog does this image capture? Identify the literary device.
L4 Analyse
This image captures the fog's stillness (it sits), its wide reach (over harbour and city — it covers everything), its silence (the word "silent" is used explicitly), and its observational quality (it is "looking" — watching, not acting). The literary device is personification: the fog is given the ability to sit, look, and crouch on haunches — actions only a living creature can perform. The word "haunches" also contributes to the imagery, giving the fog a physical, animal posture.
Q3. Why does the poem end with "and then moves on"? What effect does this abrupt ending create?
L4 Analyse
"And then moves on" is the poem's most important phrase in terms of effect. It creates an abrupt, anti-climactic ending — after settling and observing, the fog simply goes. There is no explanation, no emotion, no farewell. This mirrors the actual behaviour of both fog (which dissipates without reason) and cats (which move on without warning or apology). The abruptness reinforces the poem's themes of transience and the indifference of natural forces. The ending also leaves a kind of vacuum in the reader — a slight surprise at the finality, which makes one want to re-read the poem from the beginning.
Q4. "Fog" has only six lines and 21 words. Do you think a short poem can be as powerful as a long one? Justify your view with reference to this poem. [HOT]
L5 Evaluate
Brevity and power are not opposites — in fact, in poetry, compression often intensifies meaning. "Fog" demonstrates this perfectly. Because every word is chosen with absolute precision, there is no dilution of the poem's central image. The metaphor (fog = cat) is established immediately and developed with economy. Had Sandburg used 60 words, the image might have been explained away, robbed of its mystery. The poem's shortness also performs its subject: fog arrives suddenly and leaves quickly — so does the poem. In this sense, the form enacts the content. Great poetry is not measured by length but by the precision and resonance of its language — and by this measure, "Fog" is one of the most powerful poems ever written in English.
Thinking about the Poem — Comprehension
Q1 2 Marks
How does Carl Sandburg describe the arrival of fog in the poem?
Sandburg describes fog's arrival using the extended metaphor of a cat. He says "The fog comes / on little cat feet" — suggesting the fog approaches silently, softly, and without warning, just as a cat moves on its padded paws. The image immediately communicates the fog's noiseless, gentle quality.
Q2 3 Marks
What does the poem suggest about the nature of fog — and, more broadly, about natural phenomena? Use evidence from the poem.
The poem suggests that fog — and natural phenomena in general — possess a quiet, unhurried power that does not need to announce itself. The fog arrives silently, settles over the entire harbour and city ("looks over" everything), and then departs without explanation. Natural forces operate on their own timescale, with their own agenda, indifferent to human observation. The phrase "and then moves on" is particularly revealing — it implies that the fog has no obligation to stay, explain itself, or consider the world it leaves behind. This is the nature of all weather, all natural forces: they come, they are, they go.
Q3 5 Marks
Write a critical appreciation of the poem "Fog" by Carl Sandburg. Comment on theme, literary devices, form, and the effect of brevity.
"Fog" by Carl Sandburg is a miniature masterpiece of Imagist poetry. In just six lines and 21 words, it creates a complete, resonant experience of a natural phenomenon — fog settling over a harbour and city.
Theme: The poem's central theme is the quiet, unhurried power of nature. Fog arrives without fanfare, observes without engagement, and departs without explanation. Sandburg presents natural forces as sovereign — operating on their own terms, indifferent to the human world they temporarily envelop.
Literary Devices: The poem's sole device is the extended metaphor of fog as cat — one of the most perfectly chosen comparisons in English poetry. Both fog and cats are silent, watchful, and self-contained. Personification gives the fog a body ("haunches") and agency ("sits looking", "moves on"). Enjambment across lines mirrors the fog's smooth, uninterrupted movement.
Form: Written in free verse with no rhyme or fixed metre, the poem's formlessness mirrors the formlessness of fog. The poem is short because fog is transient — its brevity enacts its subject.
Effect of Brevity: The poem gains, not loses, from its shortness. Every word is essential; none is decorative. The compression intensifies the image. The abrupt ending — "and then moves on" — leaves the reader with a slight sense of loss and wonder, a desire to return to the beginning. This is the mark of great poetry: it sends the reader back.
Theme: The poem's central theme is the quiet, unhurried power of nature. Fog arrives without fanfare, observes without engagement, and departs without explanation. Sandburg presents natural forces as sovereign — operating on their own terms, indifferent to the human world they temporarily envelop.
Literary Devices: The poem's sole device is the extended metaphor of fog as cat — one of the most perfectly chosen comparisons in English poetry. Both fog and cats are silent, watchful, and self-contained. Personification gives the fog a body ("haunches") and agency ("sits looking", "moves on"). Enjambment across lines mirrors the fog's smooth, uninterrupted movement.
Form: Written in free verse with no rhyme or fixed metre, the poem's formlessness mirrors the formlessness of fog. The poem is short because fog is transient — its brevity enacts its subject.
Effect of Brevity: The poem gains, not loses, from its shortness. Every word is essential; none is decorative. The compression intensifies the image. The abrupt ending — "and then moves on" — leaves the reader with a slight sense of loss and wonder, a desire to return to the beginning. This is the mark of great poetry: it sends the reader back.
Writing Craft — Creative and Comparative Tasks
Prompt 1 — Write Your Own Imagist Poem (L6 Create): Following Sandburg's technique, write a short poem (4–8 lines) about one of the following: Rain / Wind / Thunder / Silence / Heat. Use a single, unexpected metaphor sustained across all lines. Write in free verse.
4–8 lines, free verse
Prompt 2 — Comparison (L4 Analyse): Both "The Trees" (Adrienne Rich) and "Fog" (Carl Sandburg) are short poems about natural phenomena that carry deeper meanings. In 100–120 words, compare the two poems — consider theme, tone, literary devices, and what each poem says about the relationship between nature and human beings.
100–120 words
Prompt 3 — Description Writing (L3 Apply): Write a descriptive paragraph (80–100 words) describing a foggy morning in your city or town. Use sensory details (sight, sound, touch, smell) and at least one literary device (simile, metaphor, or personification). Take inspiration from Sandburg's precision of language.
80–100 words
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Fog — Poem about in NCERT English?
Fog — Poem is a lesson from the NCERT English textbook that covers important literary and language concepts. The lesson includes vocabulary, literary devices, comprehension exercises, and writing tasks aligned to the CBSE curriculum.
What vocabulary is important in Fog — Poem?
Key vocabulary words from Fog — Poem are highlighted throughout with contextual meanings, usage examples, and interesting facts. Click any highlighted word to see its full definition and example sentence.
What literary devices are used in Fog — Poem?
Fog — Poem uses various literary devices including imagery, symbolism, and figurative language. These are identified with coloured tags throughout the text for easy recognition and understanding by students.
What exercises are included for Fog — Poem?
Exercises include extract-based comprehension questions in CBSE board exam format, grammar workshops connected to the passage, vocabulary activities, and creative writing tasks with model answers provided.
How does Fog — Poem help in board exam preparation?
Fog — Poem includes CBSE-format extract-based questions, long answer practice with model responses, and grammar exercises that mirror board exam patterns. All questions follow Bloom's Taxonomy levels L1-L6.
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