Explanation of the Poem ‘Fog’
This short poem is an expression of the view of fog. For the poet, fog is not just a
natural phenomenon it is an innocent expression of finding beauty in an ordinary world,
it is rather a creature. Fog has been compared with a cat as the way fog comes is very
similar to the way of a cat. As a cat walks silently on its small feet, the fog also comes
in the same manner, as if trying to avoid any attention. Fog’s presence over and around
a city seems as if a cat is sitting silently on its haunches and looking over the harbour
and the city. Finally, when fog leaves a city, it looks like a cat’s slow and silent steps
moving on from a place.
POETIC DEVICES ‘Fog’ Poem
Rhyme Scheme
Metaphor
Analogy
Personification
Imagery
Transferred Epithet
Rhyme Scheme
The poem does not have a rhyme scheme since it is written in free verse.
Metaphor: It is a comparison without using the words ‘like’ and ‘as’. Metaphor describes
an object or action in a way that is not literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a
comparison.
Here ‘cat’ refers to ‘fog’ and vice versa
Analogy
Comparison of fog to a cat is the analogy here throughout the poem.
Personification: providing human attributes to non-living things.
The words ‘It sits looking/over harbour and city’ are an example of personification.
The fog, which is a thing, has been shown doing the actions of sitting and ‘looking’
here.
, Imagery: Use of descriptive language to create or inspire generation of visuals in mind
and thoughts..
The phrases ‘the fog comes on’, ‘sits looking’ and ‘moves on’ invoke imagery of
movement in the poem. They create an image of the fog entering, settling over and,
then finally moving away from the city.
The phrases along with ‘little cat feet’ and ‘silent haunches’ come together to
compare the actions of the fog to that of a cat.
Transferred Epithet: Epithet is nothing but an adjective or phrase that shows/describes
the quality of a person or a thing. It is called transferred epithet when this attribute
(quality or description or adjective) is transferred from the one it appears it is used for to
any other one nearby in the sentence.
The phrase ‘on silent haunches’ is an example of a transferred epithet. Here,
‘haunches’ are not ‘silent’. Rather, the phrase refers to how a cat silently sits on its
back legs.
QUES/ANS
Q1. 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. No, the poet doesn’t actually say that the fog is like a cat. He has used cats as a
metaphor to describe the fog. “Little cat feet”, “It sits looking”, “on silent haunches”—these
three phrases tell us that the fog is like a cat.
Q2. Along with the silence, which two other characteristics of fog does the poem present?
Ans. Along with its silence, the poem highlights the stealthy movement of the fog and its
ability to surround a harbour and city slowly and gradually. It comes noiselessly as if walking
on soft padded feet just like a cat. Secondly, it spreads all over the harbour and the city at the
same time, implying that it engulfs large areas.
Q3. How does the poet emphasise the silence of the city and the harbour?
Ans. Although the poem ‘Fog’ has a city and harbour as its perspective, no activities and no
sounds are a part of the scene. The city and the town are portrayed to be shrouded in fog
which hovers over the place for some time and then disappears. The silence of the city is not
This short poem is an expression of the view of fog. For the poet, fog is not just a
natural phenomenon it is an innocent expression of finding beauty in an ordinary world,
it is rather a creature. Fog has been compared with a cat as the way fog comes is very
similar to the way of a cat. As a cat walks silently on its small feet, the fog also comes
in the same manner, as if trying to avoid any attention. Fog’s presence over and around
a city seems as if a cat is sitting silently on its haunches and looking over the harbour
and the city. Finally, when fog leaves a city, it looks like a cat’s slow and silent steps
moving on from a place.
POETIC DEVICES ‘Fog’ Poem
Rhyme Scheme
Metaphor
Analogy
Personification
Imagery
Transferred Epithet
Rhyme Scheme
The poem does not have a rhyme scheme since it is written in free verse.
Metaphor: It is a comparison without using the words ‘like’ and ‘as’. Metaphor describes
an object or action in a way that is not literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a
comparison.
Here ‘cat’ refers to ‘fog’ and vice versa
Analogy
Comparison of fog to a cat is the analogy here throughout the poem.
Personification: providing human attributes to non-living things.
The words ‘It sits looking/over harbour and city’ are an example of personification.
The fog, which is a thing, has been shown doing the actions of sitting and ‘looking’
here.
, Imagery: Use of descriptive language to create or inspire generation of visuals in mind
and thoughts..
The phrases ‘the fog comes on’, ‘sits looking’ and ‘moves on’ invoke imagery of
movement in the poem. They create an image of the fog entering, settling over and,
then finally moving away from the city.
The phrases along with ‘little cat feet’ and ‘silent haunches’ come together to
compare the actions of the fog to that of a cat.
Transferred Epithet: Epithet is nothing but an adjective or phrase that shows/describes
the quality of a person or a thing. It is called transferred epithet when this attribute
(quality or description or adjective) is transferred from the one it appears it is used for to
any other one nearby in the sentence.
The phrase ‘on silent haunches’ is an example of a transferred epithet. Here,
‘haunches’ are not ‘silent’. Rather, the phrase refers to how a cat silently sits on its
back legs.
QUES/ANS
Q1. 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. No, the poet doesn’t actually say that the fog is like a cat. He has used cats as a
metaphor to describe the fog. “Little cat feet”, “It sits looking”, “on silent haunches”—these
three phrases tell us that the fog is like a cat.
Q2. Along with the silence, which two other characteristics of fog does the poem present?
Ans. Along with its silence, the poem highlights the stealthy movement of the fog and its
ability to surround a harbour and city slowly and gradually. It comes noiselessly as if walking
on soft padded feet just like a cat. Secondly, it spreads all over the harbour and the city at the
same time, implying that it engulfs large areas.
Q3. How does the poet emphasise the silence of the city and the harbour?
Ans. Although the poem ‘Fog’ has a city and harbour as its perspective, no activities and no
sounds are a part of the scene. The city and the town are portrayed to be shrouded in fog
which hovers over the place for some time and then disappears. The silence of the city is not
