Keeping Quiet

Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet-
diplomat and politician Ricardo Eliecer Neftali Reyes Basoalto. He derived his
pen name from the Czech poet Jan Neruda. Neruda won the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1971.

Theme / Central Idea of the Lesson/ Analysis of Keeping Quiet

Theme
The poet, Pablo Neruda, urges mankind to cease all activity for a little while.
During these few moments of silence and inactivity, all human beings would be
one, united, and in harmony with each other and nature. This togetherness and
oneness is most desirable for the survival of the earth and of human beings.
Neruda believes that the soul housed within the human body is capable of
performing this feat if given a chance to shine out through introspection, for
which absolute silence and stillness is essential.
Form
Keeping Quiet is written in blank verse and has no rhyme scheme.

Message
`Keeping Quiet’ leaves a message of universal brotherhood and peace. It urges
people to stop all sorts of aggression, including that towards the environment. If
we think of ourselves as the hands of the clock on the face of this earth, moving
in our routine ways, won’t it be a good thing to stop at twelve and do some
introspection?
Poetic Devices
`Count to twelve’ — symbolizes a measure of time. The clock has twelve
markings on it, the year has twelve months and the day has twelve hours.
`Fishermen in the cold sea…hurt hands’-symbolic image showing how man is
ruthlessly destroying nature for his selfish need. The ‘hurt hands’ of the salt
gatherer symbolises how he is harming himself by his mindless activities.
Fisherman and whale stand for the oppressor and oppressed respectively. ‘Cold
sea’ — transferred epithet.
Put on clean clothes’- Alliteration
Introspection will make us comprehend the destructive nature of wars. Man
would cleanse his heart purging it of hatred.
`Brothers’ — a symbol of mankind
`In the shade’ — metaphor — just as shade protects us from the harsh sun, we
will protect and shelter each other as brothers, thus live in peace and harmony.
`Clean clothes’ symbolize peace and change in one’s perspective.
`Earth can teach us as when everything’ — Personification. Earth is personified
as a teacher. When the earth appears to be dead, it is actually dormant and
carefully preserving the seeds of life, human beings too need to keep still and
quiet to re-awaken the life forces to be productive.
The poet urges people to get into a mode of total inactivity for some seconds.
There should only be silence, no movement and a mood of introspection. He
condemns the mundane activities. He says that we should not indulge in any
mindless activity or speak in any language, nor does he want any gestures of
arms that can distract or disturb. He says that we should commit ourselves to
complete silence and inactivity
This moment of complete inactivity would be an extraordinary, memorable or
cherished moment. There would be no rush of activity, no noise and no
disturbance. Man would not have to cope with the fast pace of life. This would
be a profound moment of bonding and togetherness. There would be a complete
relaxation of mind, body and soul.
The poet talks about a metaphorical concept when he says that fishermen would
not harm marine life. ‘Cold sea’ denotes the coldness of fishermen who do not
bother about protection of sea life and in moments of inactivity, they would not
be able to disturb the sea animals. The salt gatherers would also stop to look at
their calloused hands that hurt due to this activity. They too would pause to
think about their mindless activities and their effects.
The poet feels that the whole speculation of wars and their destructive qualities
would be negated during those moments of silence. ‘Green wars’ refers to
environmental degradation caused by human activities, ‘wars’ with gases and
fires refers to wars fought with nuclear and bioweapons. A man may get the
satisfaction of being victorious but ironically, wars leave behind no survivors.
Those human beings who wage wars would be cleansed of all the murk and dirt
from their minds. They would then walk about with other individuals and
exhibit amity, brotherhood and harmony. They would do nothing to harm
mankind or nature.
The poet does not wish to advocate total inactivity or silence, which may be
misunderstood, and confused with death. Life continues to remain what we
make of it. If we were not so concerned about keeping our lives active, i.e.,
doing things mindlessly and waging wars. We perhaps would not lose sight of
our goals. Our desire to achieve goals makes us single-minded and desperate. It
is then that we lose all perspective. The poet feels that silence for a while might
alleviate sadness from our lives. Quiet productivity in place of all activities is
desirable. The end of all activities does not mean death but just a break from the
monotony of a stressful life.
The poet, in the last lines, feels that we can learn a lesson from earth. It can
teach us how silence is productive. The earth appears calm and quiet but is
actually nurturing life. Things may die but are reborn and the cycle goes on
because the earth brings forth new life. The poet appeals to all human beings to
make an effort to keep inactive/ quiet. He has initiated the state of inactivity and
now it is the human beings who can carry on with this idea while he makes a
quiet exit.
Figures of Speech
1.Alliteration
– sudden strangeness (stanza 3)
– clean clothes (stanza 5)
(Referring to clean minds and bodies)
2. Transferred Epithet
– Cold sea (stanza 4)
POEM IN NUTSHELL
Theme
1. The urgent need for mankind to introspect, buy time to start afresh.
2. To put an end to all destructive activities, be at peace, in universal
brotherhood.
3. The need to live in peaceful co-existence with nature, to stop harming
animals and avoid annihilation of the human race.
Content
1. The poet counts up to 12, as a countdown to stop all activity (12 indicating
the twelve markings on the clock/12 months signifying the passage of time)
people all over the world stop working, bound in an `exotic’ moment as it
has never happened before.
2. Fishermen don’t kill whales and the man stops extracting salt hurting his
hands in the process. Men indulging in wars, chemical or otherwise,
harming the environment, stop their destructive activities, don’t clean
clothes and are at peace with each other, `in the shade’ as against the fiery
wars where there would be no survivors.
3. The poet wants productive inactivity, not inactivity per se which would be
a death-like a state. He thinks men are single-minded in the following a
routine, without introspecting and gauging to see where they are going with
their lives, there is a vacuum in their lives, a deep sadness as they have no
time to ponder over what they want from life.
4. The Earth, he thinks can teach us the need to take a break (as it seems to
hibernate in winter, seems dead but comes back to life in full force in
spring) to resurrect our life and start afresh. After conveying his message,
the poet feels he can pass on the mantle of responsibility to mankind who
can follow his path shown by him.
Imagery
1. Use of repetition with a difference in the first and last lines of the poem.
2. ‘put on clean clothes’ metaphorical—cleanse one’s soul, remove traces of
bloodshed.
3. Image of the earth-nurturer and life-giver.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
Tick the correct answer:
1. The poet appeals to the readers to keep quiet for
(a) twenty seconds (b) 1 hour
(c) thirty seconds (d) twelve seconds
2. He advises the people not to speak
(a) French (b) Spanish
(c) any language (d) English
3. What kind of a moment would it be when everyone is silent
(a) terrible (b) painful
(c) exotic (d) unforgettable
4. Sudden strangeness is one of the following poetic devices:
(a) simile (b) personification
(c) alliteration (d) repetition
5. Fishermen in the cold sea would not harm
(a) seahorses (b) mermaids
(c) whales (d) tortoises
6. Who would look at his hurt hands?
(a) man gathering salt (b) man gathering stones
(c) boys picking rags (d)grave-diggers
7. The types of wars the poet talks about are
(a) green wars, wars with gas, wars with fire (b) verbal wars
(c) technological warfare (d) nuclear wars
8. The men in clean clothes would be walking with their
(a) wives (b) brothers
(c) nephews (d) friends
9. Where would they be walking?
(a) in the park (b) along the river
(c) in the shade (d) on the road
10.What, according to the poet, would interrupt the sadness of man’s life?
(a) great laughter (b) huge silence
(c) arguments (d) fights
11.What does man threaten himself with?
(a) death (b) birth
(c) robbery (d) suicide
12.We can learn a lesson from
(a) the trees (b) nature
(c) animals (d) The earth
13.The poet advocates the balance of nature to be
(a) maintained (b)destroyed
(c) temporarily disturbed (d) ignored
14.In the end, he again appeals to the people that he would
(a) initiate the state of inactivity (b) will not bother at all
 (c) completely ignore everyone (d) destroy the earth
15.‘Have no truck with death’ means
(a) will not die of the truck accident (b) remove poverty and illiteracy
(c) have no association or deal with death (d) will not drive a truck
16.The poet of ‘Keeping Quiet’ is
(a) P.B Shelley (b) Vikram Seth
(c) Pablo Neruda (d) Kamala, Das
17.The poet wants the entire humanity to
(a) keep talking (b) keep running
(c) keep laughing (d) keep still
18.When the poet says ‘we will’ count to twelve he means
(a) entire mankind (b) his own family
(c) his friends (d) his wife and himself
19.Without rush, without engines’ refers to
(a) no noise (b) no hurry to go to the office
(c) no travelling (d) no holidaying
20.‘Fishermen not harming whales’ means
(a) not causing extinction of whales (b) not disturbing balance in nature
(c) not going for fishing (d) not disturbing the sea
21.‘Cold sea’ is a poetic device
(a) personification (b)transferred epithet
(c) metaphor (d) alliteration
22.The man looking at his hurt hands is a
(a) salt gatherer (b) diamond cutter
(c) rag-picker (d) surgeon
23.According to the poet wars that are fought have no
(a) soldiers (b) weapons
(c) fighter planes (d) survivors
24.A man should be – with nature
(a) totally compatible (b) at war
(c) confused (d) irresponsible
25.Man needs to learn a lesson from
(a) moon (b) stars
(c) earth (d) sun
26.What will counting up to twelve help us with?
(a) achieving harmony, brotherhood (b) achieving goals and ambitions
(c) fulfilling wishes (d) winning a race
27.The last line of the poem is
(a) and later proves to be alive (c) I want no truck with death
(b) life is what it is about (d) and you keep quiet and I will go
28.The poet evokes a symbol in order to invoke that there can be life even
with stillness. The symbol is
(a) earth (b) rain
(c) storm (d) cloud
29.The poet uses conversational style and personal pronouns as ‘you’,
‘we’ and `I’ because
(a) he wants to be intimate with mankind (b) he tries to read out to the
readers
(c) he wants to establish contact easily (d) third person is
ineffective
30.The poetic device used in the last line ‘when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive’ is
(a) imagery (b) irony
(c) paradox (d) transferred epithet

ANSWERS
1.(d) twelve seconds 2. (c) any language
3. (c) exotic 4.(c) alliteration
5. (c) whales 6. (a) man gathering salt
7.(a) green wars, wars with gas, wars with fire 8. (b) brothers
9.(c) in the shade 10. (b) huge silence
11. (a) death 12. (d) the earth
13. (a) maintained 14. (a) initiate the state of inactivity
15.(c) have no association or deal with death
16.(c) Pablo Neruda 17. (d) keep still
18. (a) entire mankind 21.(a) no noise
20.(a) not causing the extinction of whales 21. (b) transferred epithet
22.(a) salt gatherer 23. (d) survivors
24.(a) totally compatible 25. (c) earth
26.(a) achieving harmony, brotherhood
27.(d) and you keep quiet and I will go 28. (a) earth
29.(b) he tries to read out to the readers 30. (b) irony

Read the extracts and answer the questions that follow.

1. Read the lines given below and answer the questions that follow: (1 x 4 =
4)
Now we will count to twelve
And we will all keep still.
For once on the face of the Earth
Let’s not speak in any language,
Let’s stop for one second,
And not move our arms so much.
(a)What does the poet appeal for?
Ans. The poet appeals for peace and harmony on the earth.
(b) To attain this, what does he expect all of us to do?
Ans. He expects all human beings to be silent, totally inactive and introspect.
 (c) Why does he advocate silence?
Ans. He advocates silence so that human beings could introspect about
themselves without any external disturbance.
(e)What kind of activity does the poet feel the man is involved with?
Ans. The poet feels that man is leading a very monotonous and dull existence.
He is also engaged in destructive activities that harm himself and nature too.

2.
It would be an exotic moment
Without rush, without engines,
We would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.
Fishermen in the cold sea
Would not harm whales
And the man gathering salt
Would look at his hurt hands.
(a) What does he mean by ‘exotic moment’?
Ans. By ‘exotic moment’ the poet means that this moment will be worth
cherishing as it would be extraordinary.
(b) How could man achieve this exotic moment?
Ans. In this exotic moment, man would be able to stop all activity, remain
silent and introspect. He would feel enlightened and be in harmony with man
and nature.
(c) What kind of a feeling would this exotic moment evoke?
Ans. It would be an extraordinary moment as a man would be at peace with
himself and his surroundings. This moment might reduce man’s sadness at
having generated negative thoughts.
(d)What harm do the fishermen do and why do salt gatherer’s hands hurt?
Ans. The fishermen kill the whales and cause their extinction while salt
gatherers’ hands hurt due to the course and rough feel of the salt causing pain to
their hands.
3. Those who prepare green wars, (1 x 4 = 4)
Wars with gas, wars with fire,
Victory with no survivors
Would put on clean clothes
And walk about with their brothers
In the shade, doing nothing.
(a)What are the kinds of wars mentioned in the above lines?
Ans. The poet mentions three types of wars, i.e. green wars that man wages
against nature and the environment. He also mentions wars with gas and wars
with fire meaning that man kills other human beings with the help of biological
and nuclear weapons.
(b)What are green wars?
Ans.`Green wars’ refers to the environmental degradation caused by man’s
mindless activities.
(c)How would the wars affect our lives?
Ans. Apart from the death of thousands of innocent people, the war would not
leave anyone victorious because there would be no survivors.
(d)What could be the ideal situation?
Ans. An ideal situation would be one in which human beings would be seen
happily walking with others hence depicting a feeling of oneness, unity and
brotherhood. There will peace and universal brotherhood.
4. What I want would not be (1 x 4 = 4)
Confused
With total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.
If we were not so single-minded about keeping our lives moving, and for once
could do nothing,
Perhaps a huge silence
Might interrupt this sadness
Of never understanding ourselves
And of threatening ourselves with death.
 What does the poet mean by inactivity?
Ans. By ‘inactivity’ the poet means a period of total silence, no work, no
disturbance. He visualizes a calm and quiet atmosphere where man introspects
and there is productive silence.
 How is inactivity different from death?
Ans. The poet only wishes for a few moments of inactivity and man be able to
reflect on his actions. Death, on the other hand, is the end of life, which the poet
does not advocate.
(c)What makes us sad and what are we single-minded about?
Ans. We are single-minded about moving on with our lives and focus only on
our ambitions and goals. The mechanised lifestyle and the feeling that we cause
a threat to our own destruction makes us feel sad.
 What does the poet mean by ‘to have no truck with death’?
Ans. The poet wants to have no association with death as death is the end of
life. He only appeals that we should be more productive and give up endless and
futile pursuits that cause unhappiness.
5. Perhaps the Earth can teach us (1 x 4 = 4)
As when everything seems dead
And later proves to be alive.
Now I’ll count up to twelve
And you keep quiet and I will go
(a) What can the Earth teach us?
 Ans. The earth can teach us how to be in harmony with others while remaining
silent and productive.
(b) How does it teach us this lesson?
Ans. The earth continues to nurture life despite all the harm done to it by man.
It silently goes about its work and this is the lesson that we should learn from it.
(c)How does the Earth ‘prove to be alive’?
Ans. The Earth nurtures life and ensures that the life cycle of birth, life and
death moves on and the process of regeneration goes on unhampered.
(d)What is the poet’s appeal?
Ans. The poet appeals to man to make an effort to keep silent for a few seconds
and introspect in order to make amends for a harmonious environment.

Short Answer Type Questions (30 to 40 words)

(2 Marks Each)
1. 1. What is the poet’s appeal to the people?
Ans. The poet appeals to all the people to count up to twelve and then to be
completely silent. During this period of silence, he urges them to remain calm
and stop all physical activity. He only wants peace during this time.
2. To attain this, what does he expect all of us to do?
Ans. The poet expects all mankind to shun all activity, remain silent and
indulge in introspection in order to understand the meaning of life, their own
destructive activities and make amends.
3. Why does he advocate silence?
Ans. He advocates silence because according to him, it is only during the few
seconds of silence and inactivity, that man will be able to take stock of his
harmful activities and then try to practise harmony and brotherhood in the
world.
4. What kind of activity does the poet feel is a man involved in?
Ans. Man is involved in a large number of destructive activities. He is creating
noise pollution, environmental pollution, destroying wildlife and marine life. He
is waging wars and is also destroying his own fellow men.
5. What does the poet mean by ‘exotic moment’ and how can man
achieve it?
Ans. By ‘exotic moment’ the poet means the moments of silence and inactivity
which will be extraordinary and memorable because man will reflect on his
activities and hence be able to make amends. This exotic moment can only be
achieved through total silence and inactivity even it is for a few seconds.
6. What kind of a feeling would this exotic moment evoke?
Ans. This feeling may be strange because it is not easy to imagine a situation of
complete peace and silence. According to the poet, this moment might remove
our sadness of never understanding ourselves and indulged in self-destructive
activities.
 7. What harm do the fishermen do and why do the salt gatherers hands
hurt?
Ans. The fishermen harm the marine life by killing the whales in the seas and
hastening their extinction. The salt gatherers’ hands hurt because the harsh and
coarse feel of salt causes discomfort and pain to their hands.
8. What are the kinds of wars mentioned in the poem?
Ans. The poet mentions green wars, i.e., wars that man is waging against nature
hence causing environmental degradation, wars with gas and fire or using
harmful biological and nuclear weapons to cause maximum destruction to life
and property. War with fire refers to the conventional mode of combat.
9. What can be the consequence of the war in our lives?
Ans. The poet observes that wars cause death and destruction. It leaves behind
no survivors and hence no victory for anyone. It is an ironical situation which
can be avoided if a man takes action and decides never to wage wars.
10.What could be an ideal situation according to the poet?
Ans. The poet strongly maintains that the ideal situation would be when people
can happily walk hand in hand under shady trees i.e. amidst a cool and
harmonious atmosphere. They will then practise oneness, unity and
brotherhood.
11.How is inactivity different from death? What does the poet mean by
`to have no truck with death’?
Ans. According to the poet total inactivity only means a temporary stillness,
whereas death means the end of life. ‘No truck with death’ means that the poet
does not want any association with death. He only urges mankind to halt the
harmful activities for a few seconds.
12.What are we single-minded about?
Ans. The poet feels that individuals only think about keeping our lives moving
at all costs, and in the process lose sight of their goals. People only yearn for
progress and fulfilment of ambitions, and that remains the only focus while they
are alive. Man is single-minded in his pursuit of wealth, supremacy and
territorial acquisition.
13.What, according to the poet, causes sadness?
Ans. Mindless destructive activities cause sadness in our lives. Behaviour that
threatens mankind leads to sadness and unhappiness.
14.What can the Earth teach us? How?
Ans. The Earth can teach us to be productive and useful even when there is
silence. The Earth nurtures all living beings, plants and animals and quietly
maintains the balance in nature. It helps in the rebirth of new life. We can all
learn to be productive yet silent.
15.How does Earth prove to be alive?
Ans. The earth nurtures life and brings forth new form. There is a regeneration
of every living thing on this earth and all things that die, are reborn and the
cycle of life moves on.
 16.How would keep quiet affect life in and around the sea? [All India
2017]
Ans. In the state of stillness and silence, the fishermen will not harm the already
endangered whales. In the same way, the salt gatherers whose hands get hurt
during the salt gathering process, will stop for a while and rest their hands and
do some introspection.
Important Long/ Detailed Answer Type Questions- to be answered in about
100 -150 words each Value based questions-
(6 Marks Each)
Q1. What does the narrator mean by ‘green wars’? What will be the
consequence of such a war?
Ans. ‘Green wars’ means the war against the environment. In our pursuit of
progress and materialism, we forget the harm we cause to the world. Our
resources are depleting. If we don’t take measures to save our environment, our
children will not enjoy the resources available to us.
Q2. What according to Pablo Neruda would be the ultimate end of a man if
the present scenario of wars continues?
Ans. If the present scenario of conflict continues, there will be a victory but no
‘survivors’. Pablo Neruda suggests that we must all keep still and introspect so
that there is peace and world unity. It is only during the few seconds of silence
and inactivity, that man will be able to take stock of his harmful activities and
then try to practise harmony and brotherhood in the world.