The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Carl Sandburg
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 poem begins with the simple line, The fog comes / on little cat feet. The narrator is comparing the movement of the fog to the silent, spry footsteps of a cat, an animal who is able to creep toward its destination without warning. Fog often arrives quickly, yet completely, as it covers a city or a harbor. Akin to a cat who does as it pleases, fog obeys no rules, often shrouding the surroundings like a blanket that does not allow any light. The cat is the ultimate stealth machine in the warm-blooded animal world, moving silently through its world much as the fog does through its.
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.
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.
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.
Source: "'Fog'," in Literature Resource Center, Gale Research, 1999.
Source Database: Literature Resource Center
Copyright (c) 2001 by Gale Group . All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company. |
Author: Carl (august) Sandburg (1878-1967) also known as: Carl Sandburg, Carl (August) Sandburg, Carl August Sandburg, Jack Phillips, Charles Sandburg, and Charles A. Sandburg
Date: 1916 |
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LINES 1 & 2
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
- Sandburg isn't wasting any time. We get the subject and the metaphor within these first two lines that compare the fog to a cat without using the words "like" or "as." The effect is one that gets us imagining the fog in a catlike way right from the beginning.
- Imagine if these lines were a simile instead, and read something like this: "The fog comes as if it has little cat feet." Notice the big difference between the original metaphor and our simile. The former is much more direct and powerful while the latter is a bit subtler and doesn't really fuse the cat and fog into one solid image.
- So although we know this is a short poem, we can already see the devices Sandburg is using to most effectively get his ideas across in a limited amount of time.
- The arrival of the fog in the first line gives the impression that it's moving slowly towards us. It's not jumping or throwing itself at us, rather it "comes" in a gradual sort of way.
- Notice too that the cat-fog seems to be creeping up on us, just like a cat. It has "little cat feet" which kind of sounds like it's tiptoeing towards us without anyone suspecting it.
- The enjambment between lines 1 and 2 not only creates a fluid sound for the metaphor, but also gets that image of a cat-fog across without any punctuation interruptions. So the speaker is making the most of his time here while mimicking the gradual movement of the fog.
- The connotation of the word "little" also serves to emphasize its sneaky, creeping, and quiet arrival. If it instead had "big" feet or just read as "cat feet," the creeping connotation wouldn't be as obvious to us, right?
- By the end of line 2 we have the image and metaphor of the creeping catlike fog settled pretty neatly in our minds, and that period serves to provide a moment to pause and fully appreciate the metaphor.
- Even if you stop reading here, we're pretty sure the next time you see a fog approaching in the distance you'll think of this metaphor. So Sandburg has done a lot in only two lines.
- Enjambment occurs when a phrase carries over a line-break without a major pause. In French, the word means "straddling," which we think is a perfect way to envision an enjambed line. When you read an enjambed line, the sense of it encourages you to keep right on reading the next line, without stopping for a breather.
- Connotation is the suggestive meaning of a word, and all of the cultural associations it brings up.
- Two words can mean exactly the same thing and have wildly different connotations. For example, if you call someone economical, it's a polite, positive way of saying they're smart with money. If you call them cheap or stingy, well that's just plain rude.
- It goes the other way, too. One word can have different connotations, depending on the context and cultural experiences of the person writing it or the person reading it. For some people, the word intellectual refers to a smart person, and that's a good thing, right? But for others, intellectual can connote elitism, snobbishness, and all sorts of other not-so-good things.
- Think of connotation as the murky haze hanging around the literal meaning of a word. Trying to figure out connotations of words can be one of the most confusing and rewarding aspects of reading literature.
LINES 3 & 4
It sits looking
over harbor and city
- By line 3 we notice the fog isn't moving anymore. It's sitting and "looking" over the harbor and city, which tells us it's covering more space now. So it's not just on its way anymore. It's here.
- We can also feel a passing of time that's occurred since we're now at the start of a new line that indicates a change in the appearance of the fog. It's almost as if we've moved with it.
- When we imagine the metaphor of a fog looking catlike, we can actually see the fog here "sitting" as a cat would, kind of sprawled out a bit (depending on how many treats it's had) and taking up way too much room on the foot of our bed, so to speak.
- So by now the fog is hovering over the harbor and city checking out the scenery as a cat might. We know that fog tends to accumulate a lot more near harbors, adding to that sitting, catlike shape it seems to have once it's settled over an area.
- There's more enjambment too between lines 3 and 4, which just like last time, keeps the flow of the metaphor and image without any distractions that come with punctuation. No stops, no pauses.
- What about the mood? Is there something ominous, maybe even frightening about these lines? We can almost feel it watching us, even if we're not there. It's "over" us which adds to that looming, impending sense of uncertainty and perhaps fear. When things are "over," or above us, we tend to feel more vulnerable.
- And again, just like a cat, we're not sure what that fog will do. It could pounce at any moment or just slink away into the shadows. But since it's "looking" over us, we get the sense that there is a possibility of danger in its presence.
- The word "city" also gives the impression that we're not the only ones vulnerable to that fog. There are many more people there too who may be just as anxious and curious as to what the fog will do next. Check out the "Setting" section for more.
LINES 5 & 6
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
- Sandburg is extending the metaphor of the fog looking catlike by including this line of it sitting and looking "on silent haunches." Haunches are kind of like a cat's thighs, and they're the parts that enable kitty to jump and pounce as far as she'd like to.
- Notice too the repetition of the word "on" that we saw first in line 2 and see again here in line 5. It seems the speaker is really keeping the metaphor of the cat-fog together by reminding us that the two are fused into this one image. The fog is "on" little cat feet and "on" silent haunches.
- What do we make of the image of "silent haunches?" Maybe the word "silent" adds to the mysterious ways of the fog and its unpredictability. And perhaps the word "haunches" reminds us of the possibility of it moving in a quick, powerful, and equally unpredictable way. Put them together and we got ourselves a powerful and potentially dangerous weather system that may be a symbol for some bigger ideas.
- We get more enjambment too in these lines. In fact, the entire second half of the poem is combined into one continuous image and thought.
- The line break between 5 and 6 heightens our sense of anxiety as to what the fog will do next. Maybe it will pounce on our heads, maybe it will move on. But that break nonetheless makes us pause and dangles all possibilities over our heads.
- By line 6 we learn that the cat-fog is on the move again. Sigh of relief. It's using those "silent haunches" to move elsewhere, though we're not sure what the point of destination is. But we do know it's moving and could pounce on another harbor/city if it chooses to.
- Consider though the dramatic change of mood that occurs between these last two lines. Within seconds we go from feeling anxious to somewhat relieved.
- So how the heck did Sandburg manage to do all of this in only two lines? It's not just because the guy's a poetry wiz…
- If we take a step back and consider all of the devices we've made note of, we begin to see that the effect is a combination of simple and yet poignant words that create a sense of unpredictability, danger, and power: "silent haunches." Then he has a line break that heightens our sense of anxiety and wonder. And finally we get that concluding image of the cat-fog moving on while we breathe a sigh of relief.
- So not only do we end the poem with an awesome image/metaphor in mind, but we also feel as if we've been taken for an emotional rollercoaster that lasted all of ten seconds.
- We may also think about all of the things that happen in our lives in the same sort of way that the fog seems to creep up on us and then suddenly disappear.
- And last, but not least, we notice the repetition of that word "on" again at the very end of line 6. Sandburg appears to be keeping his metaphor very neat and solidly fused into this one image of a cat-fog. It looks like a cat and "moves on" as cat. There's no deviating from that image which makes the entire poem resonate in our minds even more.
Start with a nursery rhyme 
