8

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 1:

(i)    According to Sandburg, the fog is like a cat.

(ii)   The fog comes on littl e cat feet.

(iii)  In the third line 'it' refers to the fog that has enclosed the city and it seems as if it is looking over the city like a cat.

(iv)  N o, the poet does not in fact say that the fog is like a cat. However, he has used cat as a metaphor for describing the fog. He says that the fog comes on its little cat feet, which implies that the fog is like a cat as it comes gradually. He also says that the fog looks over the dock, implying that the fog has covered the city an d is looking at it. He again compares it to a cat. This is reiterated when he says that the fog looks over the city sitting on 'silent hunches'. This also shows the reference to a cat as a cat all th e time sits with its knees ben t. Hence, he has compared the fog to a cat without in reality saying so.

Question 2:

You know that a metaphor compares two things by transfer ring a feature of one thing to the other (See U nit 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 Train               Fire          School Home

Tiger

Pounces over the fields, growls

(ii)   Think about a storm. Try to visualise the force of the storm, hear the sound of the storm, feel the power of the storm and the sudden calm that happens afterwards. Write a poem about the storm comparing it with an animal.

Answer 2:

(i)

Storm Train       Fire School Home

Tiger Gush of wind Anger Gateway Nest

Pounces over the fields, growls Very fast movement Danger that surrounds both on the basis of their intensities Leads to adulthood and a life of responsibi lity Provides hospitable, loving environmen t

Pounces over the fields, growls Very fast movement

Danger that surrounds both on the basis of their intensities Leads to adulthood and a life of responsibility

Provides hospitable, loving environment

(ii) Do yourself as it in an activity.

Question 3:

Does this poem have a rhyme scheme? Poetry that does not have an obvious rhyth m or rhyme is called 'free verse'.

Answer 3:

No, this poem does not have a rhyme scheme. It is written in free verse.