"The Fog" Carl Sandburg

In Sandburg's poem "The Fog," the author uses literary devices such as tone, personification and structure to depict the fog's essence. Throughout the poem, the fog is portrayed as an insouciant character who "sits looking/over harbor and city [...] and then moves on." This depiction is reflected through Sandburg's nonchalant tone. The human and animal attributes given to the fog represent its essence as well. The character's arrival "on little cat feet" suggest the fog is meticulous and easily unnoticed. The fog then "sits on silent haunches" as he looks "over harbor and city." This personification represents once again to the fog's carefree character.

Likewise, the poem's structure depicts the fog's casual manner. The poem is divided into a couplet and a quatrain where each stanza is a sentence. The couplet describes the fog's apparition: "The fog comes/on little cat feet." It is a very concise statement made up of one syllable words. The enjambment between the lines create a smooth sentence which may allude to the "little cat feet's" behavior. The plain structure of this couplet alludes to the fog's simpleness . The quatrain, although also concise, has more enjambed lines and therefore creates a sense of continuity. This enjambment represents the monotony of the fog's actions: "It sits looking/over harbor and city/on silent haunches/and then moves on." Despite the conciseness of both stanzas, the couplet mainly represents the fog's simpleness while the quatrain depicts the monotony of the fog as it "sits," "looks" and "moves on."

Through the use of tone, personification and structure, Sandburg is able to represent the fog's light-hearted character. The authors nonchalant tone, the personification of the fog and the poem's structure allude to the fog and emphasize on it's way of being.