Fog Class 10 NCERT English First Flight Poem Explanation, Summary, Difficult words

By Ruchika Gupta

CBSE Class 10 English Poem 9 Explanation Notes

Fog Class 10 English First Flight Poem 9 Detailed explanation of the poem along with meanings of difficult words. Also, the explanation is followed by the literary devices used and a Summary of the lesson. All the exercises and Question and Answers given at the back of the poem have also been covered.

Fog Class 10 English Poem 9

by Carl Sandburg

Theme of the Poem

The ethereal, enigmatic nature of fog and its effect on the senses are the central themes in Carl Sandburg’s poem “Fog.” According to the poem, the onset of fog is likened to the appearance of a silky, grey blanket that covers the city and muffles sounds to produce a sensation of calm and silence. The poem addresses the notion that fog has the power to change the familiar into the foreign and to hide and hide the world’s reality. The poem emphasises how nature may change us and how it affects our senses and emotions.

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Introduction to the lesson

Fog is a very small poem written by Carl Sandburg. He has described the process of arrival of the fog into a city and the harbour. He has very beautifully compared it to a cat.

Fog MCQ Questions

Summary of the Poem

The poet says that the fog which is generally seen during the winter season is coming towards the city and the harbour just like a cat. This means that it is approaching the city in a very silent manner so that no one can notice its arrival. He has compared its arrival to that of a cat because a cat always enters a place silently. Next he says that the fog has covered the whole of the city and harbour and it appears as if it is sitting by folding its legs and looking around just the way a cat does when it sits on the haunches and looks around. At the end, he describes the departure of the fog which very silently and unpredictably, again, similar to the departure of the cat, vanishes.

Summary of the Poem in Hindi

कवि कहता है कि सर्दी के मौसम में आमतौर पर जो कोहरा दिखाई देता है वह बिल्ली की तरह दबे पाँव शहर और बंदरगाह की ओर आ रहा है।
इसका मतलब है कि यह बहुत ही शांत तरीके से शहर की ओर आ रहा है ताकि किसी को इसके आने की भनक न लगे।
उन्होंने उसके आगमन की तुलना बिल्ली के आगमन से की है क्योंकि बिल्ली हमेशा चुपचाप एक जगह में प्रवेश करती है।
आगे वह कहता है कि कोहरे ने पूरे शहर और बंदरगाह को कवर कर लिया है और ऐसा प्रतीत होता है जैसे कोई बिल्ली अपने पैरों को मोड़कर बैठी है और ठीक उसी तरह देख रही है जैसे बिल्ली जब बैठती है और चारों ओर देखती है।
अंत में, वह कोहरे के प्रस्थान का वर्णन करता है जो बहुत ही चुपचाप और अप्रत्याशित रूप से, फिर से, बिल्ली के प्रस्थान के समान गायब हो जाता है।

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Fog Poem and Explanation

fog

Poem
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbour and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

Word Meaning
fog: It is a thick cloud of tiny water droplets present in the atmosphere, especially in winter.
harbour; Port, dock
on haunches: sitting with knees bent

Explanation of the poem passage above – The poet is describing fog. Fog is a thick cloud of tiny water droplets present in the atmosphere. It is generally seen during the winter season. Here the poet describes the advancement of fog towards the city and the harbour. He says the fog comes like a cat comes on its little feet. This means the fog advances towards the city very slowly and calmly just like a cat. One never knows how and when the fog will enter the city. Therefore, fog is compared to the cat which enters our home in an unpredictable manner. Next he says that the fog sits over the whole of the city as a cat sits silently by folding her legs behind itself and looks around the nearby places and things. Similarly, it seems that the fog silently covers the whole of the city and the harbour and is sitting over them looking around like a cat. After a while the fog leaves the city and moves on. The poet says so because it is a natural phenomenon that fog does not stay at a place for long and leaves the place after a few hours. So, here also the poet says that just like a cat, the fog leaves the place very silently without being noticed by anyone.

Literary devices:
Metaphor: Fog is compared to cat (On little cat feet)
Rhyme scheme: There is no rhyme scheme followed. Poem is in free verse
Enjambment: When a sentence continues to next line (It sits looking….. then moves on)
Personification: fog has been personified – Fog comes, it sits

Fog Class 10 Poem Question and Answers

Q1- What does Sandburg think the fog is like?
Ans- Sandburg thinks the fog is like a cat that comes silently so that no one can sense it arrival.

2. How does the fog come?
Ans- As per the poet the fog comes very silently like a cat.

3. What does ‘it’ in the third line refer to?
Ans- ‘It’ refers to the fog

4. 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.
Ans- The three things that tell us that the fog is like a cat are as follows:

The fog comes on its little cat feet: This means that the fog enters silently just like cat.
It sits looking over harbour and city: The fog is compared to cat as cats also like to sit and look here and there and fog is also looking while it sits over the city.
On silent haunches and then moves on: The fog sits on her bended legs just like cat and then moves away very quickly and silently, just like a cat.

Q2- Does this poem have a rhyme scheme? Poetry that does not have and obvious rhythm or rhyme is called ‘free verse’.
Ans- There is no rhyme scheme in the poem. It has neither internal nor external rhyme scheme. Hence, we can say that it is in free verse.

Fog MCQ Questions

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