Out of all of the poems written by Carl Sandburg, a beginning twentieth-century poet person of the Imagist school, “Fog” may be his most famous. This may seem surprising, it’s a deceptively simple composition, only six lines very long, with no true discernible inmiscuirse or rhyme scheme. Yet , the significance on this poem lies not only in the latent power of its imagery, but as well in the groundbreaking poetic custom in which this participates, associated with which it was one of the first examples.
Carl Sandburg composed “Fog” in the year 1916. World Warfare I was flaming, and delivering with this massive sociable changes, the repercussions that we even now feel today. In literary works, and poetry specifically, the austerities in the war and the harshness from the reality which people the world over were being compelled, for the first time, to manage brought about a completely new style. Works of literature composed at this time started to be crisper, less romantic, even more realistic without genre exhibited this move more clearly than the poem. Carl Sandburg was evidently writing through this tradition, in a review of his work, one critic claims that he “has the unassailable and immovable earthbound strength of your great granitic rock which shows a weather-worn surface above the garden soil. “[1] This kind of trend of strong, concrete, reality-bound literary works demonstrated itself specifically in the Imagist Movement. A subset of the modernist craze of the early 1900’s, the Imagist Movement was based around the use of imagery being a primary pressure in beautifully constructed wording, writers of the Imagist university focused on creating strong, realistic images, that they can allowed to become the center of their poems. Sandburg’s reviewer echoes to the convincing way in which Sandburg participated from this trend, declaring: “This is definitely speech torn out of the cardiovascular system because of the loveliness of.., a fog coming ‘on small cat feet’ the incommunicable loveliness of the earth, of life is too keen to be borne. inches[2] The Imagist poets tried to access the deepest facts by offering, with quality and push, but with out subtext, authentic images drawn from real life, through this lay their very own peculiar electricity. Carl Sandburg manifests this kind of trend in a particularly clear and persuasive way in “Fog”.
Carl Sandberg wrote primarily in free verse, meaning that the majority of his poems flowed freely with out a clearly real metrical figure or vocally mimic eachother scheme, and “Fog” is no exception. The metrical feet fall in what appears a random style, and none of the lines rhyme. Their brevity, snugly constructed lines, and general conciseness almost put one in mind of the Japanese haiku. There is 1 legend that holds that Sandburg composed the composition while he was waiting for an associate in a Chi town park, he had a book of haikus with him, and decided to make an effort his palm at writing one himself, which this individual eventually developed into “Fog”. Whether or not this history is true, it can certainly indisputable that this restricted free-verse part bears a few similarity while using clean, concise lines of Japanese haiku. This method of constructing a poem deepens a particular pressure, the reader is somewhat more attentive than he might be if he were merely reading a paragraph in prose, and yet the naturalism of the expression choices plus the lack of rhyme imparts a realistic quality for the piece. This emphasis on realistic look, again, can be described as quality with the modernist activity, in which Carl Sandburg, because an Imagist poet, was writing. The imagery from this poem is very unique, as it relies on a sole metaphor to provide it a focused center. The composition reads as follows:
The fog comes
in little kitty feet.
It is located looking
more than harbor and city
about silent haunches
and then, progresses. [3]
The comparison of the cat to the haze is a very apt one, since cats and fog really do share a couple of characteristics. The two can be totally silent, and can creep into an area totally unawares. Similar to a drifting haze, the stereotypically defiant kitty goes exactly where it will and does what it pleases, regardless of the impact it has about its area. Both cats and kittens and the fog are somehow mysterious and elusive, and both are notoriously fickle. The testimony of cat owners from since the beginning affirms the idea that cats can adjust their feelings in an instant, devoid of rhyme or perhaps reason. Fog, too, is definitely notoriously moody, arising or dissipating which has a swiftness that is certainly sometimes surprising. The choice to get in touch cats and fog was truly motivated.
In terms of poetic devices, Sandberg employs a few significant ones which are very helpful in developing the entire metaphor and tone from the poem. He begins with an instance of alliteration inside the second collection: “little kitty feet. ” The duplication of the “t” sound here evokes the thought of tiptoeing, which begins to create the idea of a creeping quiet an apt image for both fog and felines. Sandburg’s utilization of short lines in free-verse help to perpetuate this concept of a slow approach. Free-verse itself, as being a genre the moment used by Sandburg, tends to build a ponderous, earth-bound rhythm, while Harriet Monroe says in her article about the job of Carl Sandburg, “The free-verse rhythms which this kind of poet wants are while personal since his sluggish speech or his massive gait, constantly a reverent beating-out of his subject matter. “[4] This kind of ponderous yet thorough remedying of the reality he is trying to communicate is advanced further in his choice to hold the lines of the poem intentionally short. In doing this, Sandburg is able to control the tempo at which his reader takes in the composition, since the mix of short lines and free of charge verse generate it difficult to predict what the poet person will say next, and require an receptive reading. This kind of slow, deliberate reading displays, in a way, the slow although inevitable approach of the fog as it progresses in.
Overall, although “Fog” is among the shortest poetry to be incorporated into a rule of great poetic works, the effectiveness of its imagery and the amazing use of poetic techniques that the artist utilizes ensure that it does indeed sit on a rightful place right now there. Sandburg’s usage of naturalistic images to convey his idea is actually a testament to his natural power of his beauty, as Harriet Monroe produces, “His publication [of poems], whether you like this or certainly not, whether you call it poetry or not really, is primary in the same majestic impression it is a gentleman speaking with his own tone of voice, authoritatively like any other force of character. “[5] The truly shocking element of Sandburg’s beauty, however , is based on his uncanny ability to record a single instant that of the fog mainly because it floats fleetingly through the town and over this particular. In this, this individual not only determines himself as being a fine sort of the Imagist school of poetry, although also solidifies his place as one of the best poetic imaginations of our time.
[1] Harriet Monroe, “Carl Sandberg” in The Beautifully constructed wording Foundation, September 1924, 321 [2] Monroe, 321 [3] William Harmon, ed., The Top 500 Poetry. Columbia College or university Press, Ny, 1992, 914. [4] Monroe, 321 [5] Ibid.
