Class 10 English - TAMILNADU
Poetry: Fog
The poem 'Fog' by Carl Sandburg, included in the Class 10 English syllabus under Tamil Nadu Samacheer Kalvi, is a short yet profound free-verse poem. It describes the silent and mysterious arrival, presence, and departure of fog over a city and harbor. The poet uses an extended metaphor, comparing the fog to a cat. For board exams, this chapter is crucial for testing students' understanding of poetic devices, metaphor, imagery, and annotation-style questions, where students must explain lines with reference to the context and identify rhyming schemes or literary figures.
Start Learning FreeKey Concepts
Extended Metaphor
The entire poem is built on comparing fog to a cat, showing how both move silently, sit quietly, and then move away.
Free Verse
The poem is written in free verse, meaning it does not follow a specific rhyme scheme or fixed meter, reflecting the natural and unpredictable movement of fog.
Imagery
Carl Sandburg creates vivid visual images in the reader's mind, such as the fog coming on 'little cat feet' and looking over the harbor and city.
Personification
The fog is given living qualities, acting like an animal that arrives, sits, and looks around before leaving.
Enjambment
The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, stanza, or couplet, which helps maintain the smooth and flowing movement of the fog.
Important Formulas
Board Exam Info
In the Tamil Nadu (Samacheer Kalvi) Class 10 English board examination, poems typically carry around 8 to 12 marks in total, including 2-mark appreciation questions (identifying poetic devices or answering from lines of the poem) and paragraph questions. Questions from 'Fog' frequently test students' ability to identify the central metaphor and explain the comparison between the fog and a cat.
Frequently Asked Questions
The poem captures the quiet, stealthy nature of fog as it blankets a city and harbor, comparing its movements to that of a cat.
The poem captures the quiet, stealthy nature of fog as it blankets a city and harbor, comparing its movements to that of a cat.
Why does the poet compare the fog to a cat?
The poet compares fog to a cat because both arrive silently, move stealthily on 'little cat feet,' sit unnoticeably overlooking a place, and disappear just as quietly.
Does the poem 'Fog' have a rhyme scheme?
No, 'Fog' is written in free verse and does not have a traditional rhyme scheme.
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