Carl Sandburg has described the appearance and disappearance of fog with poetic beauty. In its appearance and disappearance, the law of Nature change and newness has been described. Every object, living being, and natural phenomenon is the victim of death and decay. So fog moves to another place. Fog approaches swiftly and suddenly like a cat without letting others to aware of its presence. It sits in all places like the harbor and the city to look at everything. Thus, It mystifies the whole environment. It sits on its hips just as a cat to look down at every object beneath it. Its apperance is limited as it moves away as it had come.
Explanation with Reference to the Context
The fog comes
On little cat feet
In these lines, the silent approach of fog is depicted. It appears and creeps like a cat. Its appearance is sudden and swift and other remain unaware of its presence. Thus fog is animated here. The expressions are very clear because of the use of precise image of cat.
It sits looking
Over the harbor and city
On silent haunches
And then moves on
The silent progress of fog and its end is clear in these lines. It envelops everything whether the object living being or natural scene. Then, It crawls steadily across seaport and city. It sits silently in a high place and observes everything beneath it. Its sitting position is just like a cat that sits on its buttocks for rest. No place is out of its range; uniformly it hovers over everywhere. Then it moves onward. Its travel is the indication of its disappearance and appearance to another place. Moreover, it is the symbol of change in nature as the vanishing of the fog is a sign of the rising sun. It shows the reality of life that everything is ever-changing. Every birth is a sign of death.
