Thinking about the Poem
Question 1. (i) What does Sandburg think the fog is like?
(ii) How does the fog come?
(iii) What does ‘it’ in the third line refer to?
(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.
Answer (i) Sandburg thinks that the fog is like a cat.
(ii) The fog comes silently like a cat on its small feet.
(iii) ‘It’ refers to fog that has enclosed the city and it seems as it is looking over the city like a cat.
(iv) The poet does not actually say that the fog is like a cat, but he uses the metaphor of cat for comparison.
Three things that tell us that the fog is like a cat are:
(1) The fog comes on its little cat feet which implies that the fog is like a cat as it come gradually.
(2) The fog looks over the dock, implying that the fog has covered the city and looking at it.
(3) He says that fog look over the city sitting on silent hunches.
Question 2. You know that a metaphor compares two things by transferring a feature of one thing to the other (See Unit 1).
(i) Find metaphors for the following words and complete the table below.
Also try to say how they are alike. The first is done for you.
| Storm | Tiger | Pounces over the fields, growls |
| Train | ||
| Fire | ||
| School | ||
| Home |
Answer (i)
| Storm | Tiger | Pounces over the fields, growls |
| Train | Snake | Long rope like body |
| Fire | Sun | Symbol of power |
| School | Temple | Teaches moral values, virtues |
| Home | Shelter | Safety, warmth |
Question 3. Does this poem have a rhyme scheme? Poetry that does not have an obvious rhythm or rhyme is called ‘free verse’.
Answer This poem does not have a rhyme scheme as the sentences do not end with like sounds.