Fog poem is explained here with word-meanings. Central idea and outline are also given. explanation is both in English and Hindi. Full poem text is also given.
Poem ‘Fog’ Text
The fog comes
on little cat feet.It sits looking
Carl August Sandburg
over harbour and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on
Word – Meanings
‘on little cat feet’ – cat’s feet are padded and so it moves stealthily without making any sound
harbour—a place where the ships load or unload goods
‘looking over harbour and city’ – The fog settles over or envelopes the harbour and the city
haunches – hips, sitting with knees bent, sitting on buttocks, sitting on thighs
‘on silent haunches’ – the fog settles like a cat, sitting on its rear legs, with its knees bent
‘and moves on’ – disappears as quietly as it appears
Central Idea
The poem reflects or alludes to the poet’s interest in and appreciation of the nature in its various aspects and forms. The poem is an innocent expression of or inspiration for finding beauty in an ordinary natural world. It describes the natural phenomenon of formation of fog over a city. The poet uses the cat as a metaphor for describing the settling of the fog and its appearance thereafter as a cat moves on after a short siting at a place.
Outline (Summary) of ‘Fog’
‘Fog’ was first published in 1916 in the poet Carl August Sandburg’s collection of poems called ‘Chicago Poems’. It is one of his well-known poems. He was inspired to write it when he was walking near Chicago’s Grant Park and saw the fog over Chicago Harbour.
The poet describes the falling of fog on a cat but here fog is described as a ‘cat’ in the poem. Fog stands physicalised here as it literally moves when the cat on which it has fallen moves. The fog rolls into the harbour silently like a cat creeps on its spry footsteps. And like a cat sits on its haunches and looks out over the cityscape, the fog envelopes the harbour stays for a while before moving on.
Poem Explanation in English
Stanza – 1
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
The poet describes the falling of fog on cat. Fog is here described as a living creature as it is shown sitting on the cat (covering the cat fully) in a way that alludes fog and cat becoming one creature. As the cat moves slowly and silently on its feet so does the fog.
कवि बिल्ली पर कोहरे के गिरने का वर्णन करता है। कोहरे को यहां एक जीवित प्राणी के रूप में वर्णित किया गया है क्योंकि यह बिल्ली पर बैठे हुए (बिल्ली को पूरी तरह से कवर करते हुए) को इस तरह से दिखाया गया है जो कोहरे और बिल्ली को एक प्राणी बनने का संकेत देता है। जैसे-जैसे बिल्ली धीरे-धीरे और चुपचाप अपने पैरों पर चलती है, वैसे ही कोहरा भी होता है
Stanza – 2
It sits looking
over harbour and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on
The cat sits on its haunches as it helps it to keep watch over its surroundings and be ready for any action or jump to escape. In the same way fog settles over the harbour and city enveloping the surroundings.
In the last line, the fog then moves on i.e. vanishes. Similarly, cats are known to be wandering creatures, making a pause by siting and then move this way from destination to destination. Here the fog is compared to the cat because the fog also hovers silently, but it never stays in one place for too long. The fog either rolls on to another destination or disappears altogether.
बिल्ली अपने हौंच पर बैठती है क्योंकि यह इसे अपने परिवेश पर नजर रखने और भागने के लिए किसी भी कार्रवाई या कूद के लिए तैयार रहने में मदद करती है। उसी तरह कोहरा बंदरगाह और शहर के ऊपर बस जाता है जो आसपास के क्षेत्र को ढंकता है।
आखिरी लाइन में कोहरा फिर आगे बढ़ता है यानी गायब हो जाता है। इसी तरह, बिल्लियों को भटकने वाले प्राणियों के रूप में जाना जाता है, बैठने से विराम लगाते हैं और फिर इस तरह से गंतव्य से गंतव्य तक जाते हैं। यहां कोहरे की तुलना बिल्ली से की जाती है क्योंकि कोहरा भी चुपचाप मंडराता है, लेकिन यह कभी भी बहुत लंबे समय तक एक ही स्थान पर नहीं रहता है। कोहरा या तो किसी अन्य गंतव्य पर लुढ़क जाता है या पूरी तरह से गायब हो जाता है।
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