Comparing The Sick Rose by William Blake and Fog by Carl Sandburg Essay

Comparing "The Sick Rose" by William Blake and "Fog" by Carl Sandburg In this assignment I will gracefully compare and contrast two short poems. In my selection for the poems, I kept in mind that the two poems needed to have something in common metaphorically or thematically. After many hours of browsing I came upon two poems that contained an ultimately strange connection metaphorically and in content. Interestingly, the two also had numerous differences. The first poem I encountered was "The Sick Rose" written by William Blake in 1794. Soon after, I read "Fog" (1916) by Carl Sandburg and I began to notice an exciting connection filled with various exceptions of chief differences. Although the poems were written more than a century apart from each other, after rereading them numerous times, they left me with an unimaginable amount of thinking and writing ground. Comparison   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The two poems "The Sick Rose" and "Fog" are very much alike in the sense that they both use the introduction of weather and animals to shape the poem and give the reader a sense of displeasure. In "The Sick Rose" the poet introduces a worm and storm and in "Fog" the poet uses the fog and a cat. The subject matter is perhaps similar in these two poems with the fact that both poems embody foul weather that prevent life from flowing in its normal path. To be more specific, a storm destroys plants, animals, and life in general, while a fog blocks out the sun and its energy to spring life. In "Fog" the poet, Carl Sandburg, uses the weather condition of a fog as the main subject matter for his poem. The entire poem is literally focused on the fog above the city and harbor. Using a metaphor, Sandburg makes the fog come to life as if it actually had its own eyes to be able to overlook the city. The fog takes the shape of a cat as it "sits looking over harbor and city" (570). Like a cat, the fog sits on silent haunches. Personally, Sandburg’s words created a mental picture of a black/grayish, dirty, street cat wandering silently in the alleys of an industrious city observing the streets on top of a half-century old brick building. This engaging metaphor is what makes the fog come to life and also creates its consciousness of the harbor and city that it overlooks. Although the metaphor is being used to show a similarity in the two poems, it will be most significant later on... ...escribe how peaceful and silent the fog is and how it just comes and goes in silence leaving no trace behind. Sandburg’s approach produces imagery of calmness, silence, and perhaps unimportance. This is strongly reflected with the last line "and then moves on." (570) In contrast, Blake’s tone and attitude is intense and violent, almost provocative at times. It utterly creates weight and importance on the sick rose. One example is how he starts out using an exclamation in his first line as he speaks to the rose in anguish. In conclusion, "Fog" because of its use of metaphor and calm tone tends to focus more on developing a strong, temperate image, (more on description), while "The Sick Rose" uses fierce, moving words to create strong feelings as it concludes with death, grief, and great emotional sorrow. The Sick Rose William Blake O Rose, thou art sick! The invisible worm That flies in the night, In the howling storm, Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy, And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy. (1794) Fog Carl Sandburg The fog comes on little cat feet. It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on. (1916)