Submitted By: Saanvi

Class: XII – Commerce C

Roll no.:
Submitted To:
 Acknowledgement
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all these
individuals for mentoring and supporting me in completing
this project. My teacher for providing me with invaluable
insights and direction. Our esteemed principal for fostering
an environment of learning and creativity within our
school. To my parents, their constant encouragement,
patience, and understanding have been the pillars of my
success. I am grateful to my friends who contributed ideas
and perspectives that enriched the project. Thank you
everyone for shaping this project and enhancing my
learning experience.
 Introduction
Pablo Neruda's poem "Keeping Quiet"
highlights the importance of sustaining
peace and silence. He emphasizes being
peaceful and non-harmful to humans,
animals, and the environment. He claims
that to sustain peace and harmony, we
must take time to pause and reflect.
 Pablo Neruda
❖ Pablo Neruda was a famous poet diplomat and politician, he is widely
regarded as one of the famous poet of 20th century as well as the famous
poet of Spanish language.
❖ He was born on 12 July, 1904; his real name was Ricardo EliecerNeftali
Reyes Basoalto.
❖ Neruda got popularity during his lifetime; He wrote in a variety of style
including surrealist poems, historical epics etc.
❖ He wrote passionate love poems. Which includes Twenty Love Poems,
Songs of Despair(1924).
❖ He occupied many diplomatic positions and served a term as a Senator for
the Chilean Communist Party.
❖ Neruda was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1971.
 KEEPING QUIET
❖ Keeping Quiet is a poem about the need for soul-
searching which may help us make peace with
ourselves and others.
❖ The poet appeals to the reader to take a little time
out of their busy schedules and emphasizes on the
need of quiet introspection and retrospection. It
advocates doing nothing for sometime.
❖ It tells us how a moment of silent introspection will
help us realize the utter futility of our
aggressive endeavors.
 “Now we will count to twelve & we
will keep still”
❖ The poet asks the readers to count up to twelve in their mind and urges
everyone to be still.
❖ In this moment of silence, they would stop their babbling tongues: and
moving arms. Instead of looking outside they will look inside it will be a kind
of introspection.
❖ It is like an exercise of meditation gradually calming the mind to prepare
it for introspection.
❖ The number twelve could also be related to the hours of the day or the
months of a year.
Poetic Device - Repetition We Will
 “For once on the face of the earth,
let’s not speak in any language”
❖ The poet discourages us from speaking in any language.
People across the world should not speak their own languages.
They should keep quiet and speak the language of silence.
❖ Language can be a dividing factor it leads to domination and
discrimination. If for sometime no one spoke then all
discrimination would disappear in the depths of silence. This
will bring unity among all human beings on the
face of the earth.
 “Let's stop for a second, and not
move our arms so much.”
❖ The poet urges us to stop for one second and not move our arms
to do any work. He asks us to keep ourselves away from negative
aspects.
❖ Arms also refer to arms and ammunitions that create violence
and disrupts peace and harmony.
❖ Unless right thoughts precede actions, differences and unrest will
continue to prevail and threaten to tear the fabric of society.
❖ Man is a victim of his own doing. Much of the unrest on the lace
of the earth is a result of his progressive and forward nature.
❖ It is a gesture of dictatorship and can be interpreted as his action
to dominate others.
❖ Poetic Device-Pun-Arms
❖ Arms-hands engaged in several activities Arms weapons used for
destruction.
❖ Let's-Repetition
❖ To create a bond with the reader and stress his point.
 “It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines”
❖ When everything will come to a standstill it will be a rare
situation i.e exotic moment.
❖ We are all busy accomplishing our work and go on rushing
in our lives.
❖ We should stop engines (industrial activities causing harm
to the nature)and stop our personal activities and unite in
the one tune of silence.
❖ The mechanized modern life saps off our mental and
physical energy and strips us of our tender human emotions
and feelings.
❖ Exotic moment - a unique and rare moment of beauty,
world peace, universal brotherhood, compassion
and understanding.
“we would all be together in a sudden
strangeness”
❖ In the moments of silence human being can
experience the strength of togetherness, and create a
bond which binds all humanity together.
❖ This new and inexplicable feeling will be a
blessing for humanity.
“Fishermen in the cold sea would not
harm whales”
❖ No person would harm any other living being
either for food or for eaming his livelihood.
❖ Fisherman represents tyrants and killers. The
poet wants them to stop their work and realize
their mistakes.
❖ The powerful metaphor of fisherman is a
comment on man's irrational exploitation of
nature for his selfish interests.
❖ His actions have harmed wildlife and pushed
endangered species to the verge of extinction.
 “and the man gathering salt would
look at his hurt hands”
❖ All the people who work endlessly will get sometime
to look at their injuries and the damage they have
caused to their body.
❖ The salt gatherers is a metaphor that represent the
poor worker class who often go to any extent to earn
their livelihood and often hurt themselves irreparably.
❖ Here the poet criticizes man's obsession with
material advancement.
❖ It has brought misery and suffering as man does not
pay heed to the spiritual void created due to
his greed for more.
“Those who prepare green wars, wars
with gas, wars with fire”
❖ Green wars are the brutal wars waged by man against nature.
They exploit nature for selfish reasons which leads to environmental
degradation.
❖ Man's inability to appreciate his symbiotic relationship with
nature results in untold suffering and the day is not far when his own
actions will threaten him of extinction.
❖ Wars with gas and wars with weapons are the wars that human
beings have fought against each other in the past and present. They
make use of such devastating weapons that have the capacity to
wipe out humanity from the face of earth.
❖ Those refers to all the people responsible for initiating and
aggravating wars. These wars spread mindless violence and cause a
colossal wastage of precious human lives, property, sacred values,
emotions and feelings.
 “victories with no survivors, would
put on clean clothes”
❖ The poet puts forth the paradox of wars, where everyone experiences a
loss, and victory becomes a result for the sake of ending the wars. It warns
us of a future possibility when man's inventions will go against him and
destroy the human race.
❖ The deadly weapons are a proof of man's intelligence and success of
technological advancement and scientific progress achieved by him. But it is
the defeat of humanity.
❖ The continuous warfare will convert this living planet into a wasteland.
❖ Man would shed his blood soiled clothes and wear clean clothes. He
would cleanse his soul, heart and mind, of all anger and hatred.
❖ He would adopt a new approach towards life, understand the destructive
nature of wars and realize killing so many people is not victory.
• Poetic Devices
• Put on clean clothes-metaphor
• Adopt a new approach which is filled with peace and understanding
 “and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing”
❖ We should walk with all fellow beings like brothers.
This change in perspective will bring about Love and
respect for fellow human beings. He wants us to leave
the path of destruction and to be united.
❖ In the shade (Metaphor) means peace and love
toward nature and without violence.
❖ Just like shade protects from harsh sun, we should
protect and shelter each other as brothers and live in
peace and harmony.
“What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity”
❖ The poet warns us that his message of silence
should not be confused with total inactivity or inertia.
❖ He does not want us to stop our work but to take
sometime and analyze the result our deeds. 'Doing
nothing and indulging in silence will refuel and refresh
ourselves for a more fulfilling life.
 “Life is what it is about; I want no
truck with death”
❖ He further clarifies his message does not have any
connection with death. He just wants us to stop for a
while and feel the tranquility of a positive
introspection and not to be confused with total
inactivity or death.
❖ He does not want death to interfere in our life
before time. It should come at the end of life lived full
and well, without regrets.
 “If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,”
❖ All human beings work endlessly with the aim of
completing all their tasks. They are driven by the
target of survival and threat of death. So they are in
mad rush to accomplish all their task.
❖ The poet comments on man's erroneous notion of
progress which is mechanical movement forward.
 “and for once could do nothing, perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness of never understanding
ourselves and of threatening ourselves with death”
❖ He says pausing for a while will help appreciate their
achievements and their lives would become happier. By
keeping quiet we will be able to understand. the true
purpose of our life. Man is treading the path of destruction
in the name of progress.
❖ In his obsession with materialism, he sacrifices his
emotional needs. He wishes that he had allowed the silence
of introspection to break the hold that sadness has over his
mind. But his failure to do so brings him closer to the
darkness of despair and death.
 “Perhaps the earth can teach us as when
everything seems dead and later
proves to be alive”
❖ The poet suggest that man should learn from
nature. The earth undergoes change in seasons in the
winter everything freezes and becomes lifeless but the
season changes again and gives birth to new life.
❖ It appears to be dead on the surface but is actually
dormant and carefully preserving the seeds of life,
human beings too need to keep still and quiet to
rejuvenate and awaken the life forces within
and be productive.
 “Now I'll count up to twelve and you
keep quiet and I will go.”
❖ The poet has conveyed the purpose of his message.
He asks the people once again to take a pause, count
till twelve and walks out. He leaves us thoughtful and
pensive.
❖ He wants us to ponder upon the thoughts planted
by him. He has the confidence that having realized the
benefits of introspection, the readers will imbibe it as
a part of their lives.