Keeping Quiet

KEEPING QUIET
By Pablo Neruda
(1904-1973)
.
THEME: Necessity of quiet introspection and creating a

feeling of mutual understanding among humans. The
Emphasis on meditation
• Pablo Neruda was a Nobel Prize–winning Chilean poet who was
once called "the greatest poet of the 20th century in any
language."
• Born in Parral, Chile, on July 12, 1904, poet Pablo Neruda
stirred controversy with his affiliation with the Communist
Party and his outspoken support of Joseph Stalin, Fulgencio
Batista and Fidel Castro. His poetic mastery was never in doubt,
and for it he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in
1971. Neruda died on September 23, 1973, with subsequent
investigations exploring whether he might have been poisoned.

KEEPING QUIET
The poet Pablo Neruda requests readers to keep
quiet till he counts up to twelve so that they meditate
and retrospect.
He requests us not to use any language and not
move our arms so much for a while as it will become
a hurdle in keeping quiet.
He says speech can breed contempt, hatred and
discrimination.
Man moves his arms to show aggression, to kill and
destroy others.
The moment everything
is quiet would be an exotic
moment, because man
would not be rushing or
hurrying about.
When there is no rush or
hurry for a second. Engines
and other machines will
stop for a moment.
That moment will be a fascinating moment for all of us. Then all
of us shall enjoy the sudden strangeness of the moment together.
No rush, no movement and noise of engines, the threat of
sudden strangeness will tie all of us together into an exotic
moment. It would bring in a feeling of brotherhood and
inexplicable peace.
• Fisherman in the cold sea catch fish especially the whales. They
endanger the environment by killing the whales. The poet wants
that the fishermen would not harm the whales in the cold sea of the
polar regions.
• The poet tells the men collecting salt , to stop over exploiting the
nature. The man gathering salt continues gathering salt forgetting
even to examine his hurt hands.
• This will bring about a relief to the fishermen in the cold sea and
the salt gatherer also will be able to look after their injured bleeding
hands.
• Wars of any kind causes hatred, sadness and destruction. All kinds of wars must
be stopped at once. The green wars against the environment, wars with
poisonous gases and wars with fire-arms must be stopped now. This refers to
the chemical and nuclear weapons. The poet hopes for an end of these wars.
• In such wars, victory is meaningless as there are no survivors left after the
war.
• The politicians and the scientists should meditate and introspect , think clearly,
and realise the strength of humanity. Instead of fighting and waging wars,
people should come out in their best dresses. They must go out for a walk with
their brothers. They must move about under the shady trees and enjoy doing
nothing.
• A good sense will also prevail on the war-mongers as they will understand the
futility of the same
• .
• Life is a continuous process and it must go on . When there is a total
inactivity there will be a halt, which is unrealistic.
• When man thinks only of his personal achievements and progress without
involving anyone or thinking about anyone , he thinks single mindedly. In
his personal pursuit he is even forgetting his emotional needs. This has
made him sad and lonely.
• The poet wants the people to stop all destructive activities, meditate and
introspect on all their follies.
• The poet Pablo Neruda urges us that when man indulges in destructive
activities , for personal gain , he forgets that he is an inhabitant of the
earth and his activities can be responsible for his death.
• The poet does not want that we should confuse
‘stillness’ with ‘total inactivity. Doing nothing at all
would amount to death. We should not be always
on the move. For a while we should also take rest.
• A long silence can do us a lot of good. Men become
sad when they fail to understand themselves. They
feel helpless when they threaten themselves with
death. A long silence can soothe our feelings and
help us in removing this sadness.
• Mother Earth can teach us a lesson. It rejuvenates after total
annihilation. New life emerges from the dead remains.
• Greed and selfishness have replaced unity, love and brotherhood.

• When Man keeps quiet
The achievement of mental peace will lead us to introspection and
mutual understanding.
• The absence of these two traits amounts to various conflicts in the world.
• With the development of mutual understanding comes empathy and
then our life becomes a pleasant experience.
• The poet says like the earth the potentials may not be exhibited all the
time. Finally, he declares his departure will persuade us to keep quiet.

• Keeping quiet and discharging our duties peacefully
will evolve better understanding in us.
• Poetic devices
• Personification- Perhaps the Earth can teach us
• Alliteration - sudden strangeness, hurt hands, clean
clothes, sudden strangeness
• Metaphor- put on clean clothes, in the shade
• Imagery – cold sea

Keeping Quiet

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KEEPING QUIET

THEME: Necessity of quiet introspection and creating a

• Greed and selfishness have replaced unity, love and brotherhood.

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