The fog comes
on little cat feet
It sits looking
over harbour and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Summary
The approach of the fog is silent and noiseless, stealthily advancing on its silent, “paws”. From a distance it seems like a cat on its haunches, cautiously analysing its surroundings before it engulfs the entire city and the harbour in its folds.
Analysis
In this poem, the poet has beautifully shown how the fog comes stealing forward just like a cat does. The poet Carl Sandburg gives a wonderful comparison between the fog and a kitten. When it arrives, it is so slow that you hardly notice it until you see or feel it. The same happens with the fog. Nobody can predict about the arrival of fog.
Fog arrives quietly and engulfs the entire place and stay on for some time. It creates troubles for everyone but stays there. It is not aware of what is happening around it. Fog causes many hurdles and incidents but it does not stay at one place for a long time. As problems are over in due course of time, in the same manner fog also disappears and it becomes clear all around.