NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Chapter 20 – Fog (Poem)
Page No 115:
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:
(i) According to Sandburg, the fog is like a cat.
(ii) The fog comes on little cat feet.
(iii) In the third line ‘it’ refers to the fog that has covered the city and it seems as if it is looking over the city like a cat.
(iv) No, the poet does not actually 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 slowly. He also says that the fog looks over the harbour and the city and then moves on, implying that the fog has covered the city and is sitting and looking at it, thereby again comparing 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 always sits with its knees bent. Hence, he has compared the fog to a cat without actually saying so.
Question 2:
You know that a metaphor compares two things by transferring a feature of one thing to the other (See Unit 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 | Tiger | Pounces over the fields, growls |
| Train | ||
| Fire | ||
| School | ||
| Home |
Answer:
(i)
Storm
|
Tiger
| Pounces over the fields, growls |
Train
|
Gush of wind
| Very fast movement |
Fire
|
Anger
| Danger that surrounds both on the basis of their intensities |
School
|
Gateway
| Leads to adulthood and a life of responsibility |
Home
|
Nest
| Provides hospitable, loving environment |
Question 3:
Does this poem have a rhyme scheme? Poetry that does not have an obvious rhythm or rhyme is called ‘free verse’.
Answer:
No, this poem does not have a rhyme scheme. It is written in free verse.
