Fog Figurative Language

In the poem “Fog”, the speaker characterizes change as an unpredictable force in everyone’s life by comparing the movement of fog to the behavior of a cat. When he considers the scene before him, the speaker is left wondering how the fog arrived and what will happen when it departs much like everyone is left to wonder when change is introduced into their lives. This uncertainty is expressed through elements such as imagery, figurative language, and diction.
Within the first two lines, the speaker introduces fog as the subject and, through a metaphor, compares that fog to a cat. The the movement of the fog, representing change, is characterized as sneaky through diction and imagery. It simply “comes”, rather than lurching or pouncing, “on little cat feet”. Here you can just imagine a kitten creeping gradually forward. The enjambment between lines one and two also serve to represent the gradual movement of fog.

There’s no interruptions in the the flow of the sentence like there are no interruptions in the arrival of the fog. Change, like the fog and the cat, can creep into our lives without us realizing it.
The break between lines two and three serve to indicate a passing of time and a shift in tone.

The fog was moving, but now it has stopped and it “sits”. The cat has stopped prowling and now and it’s “looking over” us and observing the environment. This creates a tone of uncertainty that wasn’t present in the first stanza. Much like change, there’s not a definite outcome.
But the cat isn’t just considering the speaker, the diction tells us it looks over a whole “harbor and city”. The fog isn’t just surrounding the town, it covers all of the citizens within. We’re not the only ones being affected by the fog. Change, although it affects us all in different ways, is a force in everyone’s life.
The cat isn’t just sitting, it’s sitting on its “haunches” or its hind-legs. These legs are what enable the cat to jump and attack. This diction not only serves to extend the cat/fog metaphor, but create a sense of unpredictability and danger. The cat could continue to sit and watch or it could pounce at any moment. Change could bring good or bad. It’s just as

unpredictable.
Instead, the fog “moves on”. There’s another shift in tone. The anxiety we experience before becomes a sigh of relief. The fog is no longer the speaker’s problem and he wonders where it will go next. Change doesn’t stay for long. It shows up, does its thing, and leaves like the fog.
The speaker’s comparison of fog rolling into a city to a cat on the prowl creates a sense of unpredictability in change. When change is introduced in our lives, it leaves us in wonder of what will happen next. The speaker conveys this through the use of elements such as imagery, figurative language, and diction.