KEEPING QUIET

PABLO NERUDA

KEEPING QUIET
PABLO NERUDA

theme
critical of any kind of
universal peace and political or social oppression
tranquility

Clarion call for introspection The poet feels that if for

The poem is a plea for peace
for all human beings, who once we’ll keep quiet and
from one who has seen the
have divided themselves on still, it will provide us an
dire consequences of war
the basis of race, language opportunity to introspect on
and violence
and nationalities. our follies

Pun –Arms –refers to arms

and also to the weapons

Metaphor-Fisherman,
Earth

Symbolism-clean clothes
 Paradox-victory with no survivors

Alliteration- sudden strangeness,

hurt hands; clean clothes

Keeping quiet is a magnificent poem by Pablo Neruda which is based on the theme of universal
peace and tranquility. Keeping Quiet' is a deceptively simple poem by Neruda about the
exigency of self-analysis and introspection in building up a new world. The poem is a plea for
peace from one who has seen the dire consequences of war and violence. ARMS can also mean
weapons and moving arms (arms-hands)is the stock gesture of dictation and order of any
political leader.

Pablo Neruda was critical of any kind of political or social oppression. His poem `Keeping
Quiet’ is a call for introspection for all human beings, who have divided themselves on the basis
of race, language and nationalities.

Now we will count to twelve and we will all keep still.

The poet says "now we will count to twelve and we will all keep still." here, the number twelve
is a word that signifies order and completion
The poem begins on a note of meditation and introspection. through this expression, the poet
commences the session of introspection. When stressed out or in dilemma, the best exercise is to
keep quiet and calm. The poet uses the number twelve that probably represents the dial of a
clock.
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.
The poet feels that if for once we’ll keep quiet and still, it will provide us an opportunity to
introspect on our follies. Moreover for those moments we will forget our differences and enter
into the world of peace. Language breeds discrimination and linguistic chauvinism breeds
dominance. If for sometime no one spoke on the face of the earth, all these discriminations will
wither away in the depths of silence. Only then we will hear the voice of our conscience and feel
rhythmic oneness of hearts. Here the poet is encouraging a unified movement among people,
with no discrimination based on race or language. This would be a mass movement for the first
time on the face of the earth, and would greatly enhance unity.
Let us stop for a moment and not move our hands so much in violence i.e. Let us not fight and
argue so much. Man is a victim of his own doing. Much of the unrest on the earth is a result of
man’s so called progressive activities. If for sometime man stops moving his arms too much,
peace and tranquility can prevail in the world. Man’s silence and inactivity will prove to be a
boon for mankind. All distinctions on the basis of language and nationality will disappear and
man will not involve himself in the rat race if he is silent and inactive .All unnecessary
misunderstanding , disputes and debates born out of different languages will come to an end.
The poet wants to promote peace and brotherhood in the world. As the harbinger of world
peace , he feels that as long as men are always up and doing , differences and unrest will prevail
in the world. Only when men keep quiet and spent time in introspection , will they be able to
make amends .
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines,
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.
It would be an exotic moment of immense world peace ,universal brotherhood and love created
through introspection and silence . When men sheds away his differences and feels one with the
soul of his fellow beings , he then feels that exotic moment of silence which can be a blessing
for mankind. In this moment, man will become conscious of the harm he is causing to others and
to himself. In this moment of inactivity all evils will come to an end.
It would be a splendid moment with reduced industrial activity (engines). The silence or the
peace would form the common link between all of us, bringing us all together. `without rush,
without engines’- the expressions are symbolic of the hubbub of life. In the modern competitive
world of advancement there is a rat race to outshine others. Life can be peaceful only if this
thoughtless advancement can be stopped.
Man can be brought together in that exotic moment of tranquility when all discriminations of
man by can be wiped away from the world and unrest caused by war come to an end.
The exotic moment of introspection will build a sudden and strange feeling of brotherhood .This
moment of brotherhood and togetherness will be new and inexplicable. In other words, in the
moments of introspection, he will realize the strength of mankind and togetherness of his race.

Fishermen in the cold sea

would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.
Fishermen symbolize men’s indiscriminate exploitation of nature for his vested interest. It is
therefore a cry for the oppressed. In this quiet moment of introspection, people would stop
hurting others in an attempt to understand themselves. The whole of humankind is in a mad rush
to finish off their existence and achieve whatever goals they set. People are so occupied with the
daily rush of things and the flurry to accomplish their various goals that they never take the time
to look into themselves and understand themselves. Mankind has been personified as the salt
gatherer in the poem. The poet creates an image of man’s incessant suffering. In his effort to add
comforts to his life he pays no heed to the pain he has been causing to his own self and to nature.
In an exotic moment of peace, people would finally slow down and look into themselves in an
act of introspection, identify their follies and rectify them, making them better human beings.
Those who prepare green wars,
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.
Those refers to the statesmen and the scientists who are involved in initiating and aggravating
wars. `green wars,wars with gas, wars with fire’ refers to the chemical wars which man is
waging against man and nature chemical wars which man is waging against man and nature.
Man’s activities are polluting the nature and chemical and nuclear weapons created by him have
brought mankind to his dead end. Men’s activities are indeed them towards their doom. The
wars which man is waging against nature will one day convert this living planet into a dead one
and human beings will become an extinct species.. The war may be a victory of man’s scientific
knowledge but there could be no survivors to celebrate this victory.
When man put on clean clothes (without bloodshed) and for sometime do not involve in any
activity they would reflect inwardly and thus halt their destructive activities. The poet uses this
as a metaphor for cleansing the soul, mind and hearts of ill- feeling, hatred and violence. There
should be sympathy for. People should rest peacefully in the quiet shade of trees.
When man can wear clean clothes and walk around leisurely, he will realize the strength and
become conscious of universal brotherhood.

“Victory with no survivors” is a paradox. People who win a war claim to possess victory; but is
that so? Have they not lost precious lives in the process? How then can they claim to have had
victory? All wars originate from the lack of self-understanding, and the understanding that all
individuals are equal, which is why the poet stresses on introspection. There can be two
interpretations drawn out from the last few lines of the paragraph. One interpretation expounds
that the people responsible for wars such as politicians, scientists, trigger the war and later stay in
the shade walking hand in hand with the rival as brothers, while thousands of lives are lost in the
battle. Another explanation is that people are never happy to go to war. They realize the
absurdity of victory from war. As a result of this reflection, People can be friendly as brothers,
and walk about in the shade doing no violence.
What I want should not be
confusedwith total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.
Total inactivity’ implies to a phase of complete stagnation where no activity is taking place on
the face of the earth. He wants him to continue with his positive and constructive activities for
the good of mankind.
Life is an ongoing process and thus is all about being up and doing. Life cannot come to a
standstill under any circumstances.
The poet’s words should not be confused with death or a state of complete dormancy. The poet’s
message is about life and he does not want it to be related in any way to death. It is not a state of
inactivity but rather of continued action at a slow pace.
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.
Man has targeted himself single- mindedly towards scientific progress and advancement. He is
so focused to it that he pays no attention to the pros and cons of reckless progress and moves
ahead without reflecting on the consequences . he does not realize that it is speed that is
threatening his joys and life. The expression `keep ourselves going’is a comment on modern
man’s mechanical and busy life. Man in his rat race for materialism has sacrificed fulfillment of
his emotional needs. He does not understand his own needs and has become sad and isolated.
The arm’s race and man’s rapid advancement towards progress at the cost of nature has brought
him on the verge of extinction.

As mentioned before, the basic concern of all human beings is being alive. Human beings are
single-minded about survival. Human beings are in a mad rush to finish life and accomplish all
their varied targets. If people could slow down for once and do nothing, the massive silence will
intrude the despair of never appreciating or recognizing ourselves. When we look around, all we
see is an extremely pathetic condition wherein people are only concerned or afraid of dying and
never of understanding themselves. Death is a threat to many of us because it means that we will
not be able to fulfill all the targets that we create. We will not be able to accomplish the task of
survival in peace.
Perhaps the Earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.
The earth can teach us the lesson of preserving and resurrecting life .Earth teaches us how new
life emerges from the ashes of the dead remains. Life is an eternal and ongoing process . Man is
caught in the cycle of death. New life is believed to rise from the dead remains. The irony in
these lines is that when the earth looks dead and it seems there is no activity taking place it is
actually then that the seeds of life are germinating and the sprouting takes place. Similarly if we
slow now to relax in silence and introspect, it will be truly enlightening moment as the true
meaning of life and cause of our unhappiness will be known to us.
This paragraph is possibly empathetic toward human beings, persuading them to take a lesson
from nature. During winter, the earth is blanketed with a coat of ice, and it appears as though
there is no life in the environment. Even the air is frigid (frosty) and draughty. However, this is
not the end and this does not last for long. The earth gets itself refined of all these trivial
discrepancies, counting them all as a part of the rejuvenation process. Despite all natural
disasters and calamities, the earth continues its journey. After a certain period of time, the cycle
of reconstruction continues. The earth rejuvenates itself and moves on, alive once again.

Now I’ll count up to twelve

and you keep quiet and I will go.
Counting is a part of an exercise in meditation, When the leader counts upto twelve , the
meditator reaches the point of ecstasy where all destructions wither away and the man is lost in
that ecstatic moment. Thus the speaker counts upto twelve to make the meditators experience
ecstasy.
The poet asks men to keep quiet and experience the ecstatic moment of silence which creates
rejuvenation of thoughts and transition of mindset .He quietly departs leaving the meditators in
an exotic moment.
Maintaining a third person viewpoint to the entire dilemma, the poet leaves us on a train of
thought. Now that he has passed on the message, his work is done and he quietly leaves the
scene.
The poet concludes the poem on the serene and pious note leaving the listeners in an ecstatic and
exotic moment of peace.

The poem is written in a blank verse.

The title is quite logical. It suggest the necessity of quiet introspection. The people of the world
are overactive and always on a move. Their activities have caused troubles and sufferings.
Keeping quiet will do them a lot of good. It will save them from many harmful and violent
activities. It will help in reflecting over the fate of man and help in creating a feeling of mutual
understanding among human being.
There are twenty-four hours in a day in all, with twelve hours for a half a day. The hours are
numbered from one to twelve for both the ante meridiem (a.m.) half of the day and the post
meridiem (p.m.) half of the day. 12:00 after a.m. and before p.m. (in the middle of the day) is
midday or noon, and 12:00 after p.m. and before a.m. (in the middle of the night) is midnight. A
new day is considered to start with the stroke of midnight. Furthermore, the basic units of poet
may have used 'twelve' for no reason.
What is significant about "twelve" in the poem? Time (60 seconds, 60 minutes, and 24 hours)
can all perfectly divide by twelve.
In scripture we find twelve associated with rule. The sun which rules the day and the moon and
stars which govern the night move through the twelve signs of the zodiac. The zodiac resides in
the great circle of the heavens, which is itself 360 degrees (= 30 x 12).

The Heavenly City of Revelations has twelve gates with the names of the twelve tribes on them.
Twelve angels stand at the gates; the walls have twelve foundations garnished with twelve
precious stones, and in them the names of the twelve apostles. The city is twelve thousand
furlongs square, and the twelve gates are twelve pearls. The number twelve is used here
symbolically of God's perfect government.

The importance of 12 in Judaism and Christianity can be found in the Bible. The Twelfth chapter
of the Bible starts with God calling Abram to come out of the land he was living in and go where
God would tell him. This is the beginning of God's plan to call out a nation unto him, that would
be ruled by God and be a testimony to all the nations of the earth of the one true God. Here we
can see the link between perfect government and the number twelve. There are 12 days of
Christmas. Most calendar systems have twelve months in a year. At twelve, the hands of a clock
are one. It is Oneness that the poem calls for. Count the letters in the title "Keeping Quiet", there
are twelve.

Literary Device
Pun –Arms –refers to arms and also to the weapons
Metaphor-Fisherman, Earth
Symbolism-clean clothes
Paradox-victory with no survivors
Alliteration- sudden strangeness, hurt hands; clean clothes;
SOLVED QUESTIONS

1. Read the stanza and answer the questions that follow:

Fishermen in the cold sea

Would not harm whales
And the m an gathering salt
Would look at his hurt hands.

a) What is ‘fisherman’ symbolic of?

The fisherman symbolizes man’s indiscriminate exploitation of nature for his vested interests.
b) What will happen when fishermen do not harm whales?
The whales will be no longer on the verge of extinction.
c) What has happened to the man gathering salt? What must he do?
The man gathering salt has injured his hands. He must take care of his hurt hands.
d) What would happen in this moment of silence?
He will become conscious of the harm he is causing to others and to themselves.
e) What image does the poet create in the last line?
He creates the image of incessant suffering. In his effort to add comforts to his life he has paid no
heed to the pain that gave him comforts or power.

2. Perhaps the earth can teach us

As when everything seems dead
And later prove to be alive
Now I’ll count up to twelve
And you keep quiet and I will go.

a) Who can teach us?

The earth can teach us.
b) What does earth teach us?
The Earth can teach us how new life emerges from the ashes of the dead remains.
Likewise, quiet introspection will enable us to live a life of peace and tranquility.
c) Why does the speaker count up to twelve?
It is a part of an exercise in meditation. All distractions and digressions are washed
away and man is in a moment of bliss.
d) Explain‐‘you keep quiet and I will go’?
The poet wants all to keep quiet and experience the moment of peace. He will go
and pass on the message to another group of people.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Pablo Naruda urge us to keep still?
Stillness is necessary for reflection and quiet introspection. We can hear the voice of our
conscience and thus withdraw ourselves from undesirable actions.
2. ’Under the apparent stillness there is life’. Justify.
The poet does not want to equate stillness with total inactivity. Under the apparent stillness, there
is life. We can learn it from the earth when everything seems dead, the earth still remains alive.
Life on earth goes on under the apparent stillness.

3. Why do men become sad? How can this sadness be overcome?

Men fail to understand themselves. They are always threatening themselves with death. When
they do not understand themselves they become sad. A long silence might interrupt this sadness
and make them realise the present condition
Question .
What will counting up to twelve and keeping still help us achieve ?
Answer:
Counting upto twelve and keeping still gives us time to introspect ourselves. In this way, we can
recuperate our energy and restart our activities with fresh energy and zeal. We will avoid doing
things which are harmful for the universe.

Question .
Do you think the poet advocates total inactivity and death ?
Answer:
No, the poet does not advocate total inactivity and death. He only wants us to keep quiet and
suspend all our activities. In this way, we can introspect ourselves and restart our activities with
fresh energy and zeal.

Question .
What is the ‘sadness’ that the poet refers to in the poem?
Answer:
When people don’t introspect themselves they fail to understand themselves, then ‘sadness’
arises. The poet wants that people should overcome this sadness by introspecting themselves.

Question .
What symbol from Nature does the poet invoke to say that there can be life under apparent
stillness ?
Answer:
In this poem, the poet uses the symbol of the earth to say that there can be life under apparent
stillness. He says that the earth appears to be dead in the winter season but when the spring
season comes it becomes alive with all its new plants.

Question.
How would keeping quiet affect the life in and around the sea ?
Answer:
It will affect the life in and around the sea in two ways. The fishermen will stop fishing for some
time. It will help the number of the fish to recuperate. The man gathering salt will get some time
to see his hurt hands get healed.

Question .
Why does one feel ‘a sudden strangeness’ on counting to twelve and keeping quiet ?
Answer:
When we keep quiet for some time and suspend all our activities for some time, we feel a sort of
strangeness. The reason is that we are always surrounded by the noise of machines, etc. When
there is no sound, we feel a sort of strangeness.

Question .
How will ‘keeping quiet’ protect our environment ?
Answer:
Keeping quiet helps us to stop wars. In this way it helps to prevent destruction of environment
due to wars. Also, it prevents deforestation. In this way, we can say that keeping quiet is the only
way to prevent our environment from all types of pollution.

Long Answer Type

Question .
Write the central idea of the poem.
Answer:
In this poem, the poet tells us about the value of quiet introspection. He wants us to keep quiet
for twelve seconds and stop every movement of the body. He implores the fishermen not to harm
the whales. He also wants the man gathering salt to stop his activities for a few minutes, since he
has hurt his hands. The poet says that wars are useless.

These wars leave no survivors. However, the poet doesn’t advocate total inactivity. He says that
something that appears to be dead now later proves to be alive. Total inactivity is death, the poet
just wants us to suspend our activities for a few seconds.

Q. What is the significance of the phrase ‘the face of the earth’ in Neruda’s poem?

Ans: The phrase ‘the face of the earth’ signifies ‘the surface of this earth’ where people
inhabiting in different boundaries. Through the phrase, the poet wants to focus on universal unity
and global humanism. He means that the earth has only one surface and we all are living together
on it. He insists all the people living on the surface of this earth keep quiet to create an exotic
moment where a sudden strangeness will be enjoyed together.

Q. Analyze the poetic devices that the poet adopts in the poem?

Ans. The poet has incorporated the use of repetition in the line ‘let’s not speak’ and ‘let’s stop
for one second’ to create the poetic effect of emphasis on his readers. Even the phrases ‘count to
twelve’ and ‘count upto twelve’ are symbolic, as the poet repeats his request to keep quiet for a
second time. The word ‘twelve’ symbolizes a measure of time representing our clock time of real
life, capturing a moment, from our present time. The phrases ‘hurt hands’ and ‘clean clothes’ are
examples of alliteration. Man will cleanse his soul, heart and mind in the process. The word
‘brothers’ here implies brotherhood and synecdoche is used by using a concrete object instead of
an abstract concept. There is use of metaphor in ‘put on clean clothes’, as the poet wants the
warmongers to shed their blood-soiled clothes (meaning, stop wars) and put on fresh clothes
(meaning, follow brotherhood).

Q. What are the main ideas contained in the poem “Keeping Quiet”? Or Write the summary of
the poem Keeping Quiet.

Ans. Pablo Neruda emphasizes a unique as well as universal impact of having a sense of
togetherness alongwith the need of introspection for mutual understanding. In this respect he is
of the opinion to bring total inactivity among all the people. They may realize some strangeness
and enjoy the exotic moments in their life. So, he urges people of all languages to stop speaking
and the fishermen are asked to stop harming the whales. Those who advocate deadly weapons to
destruct humanity have been requested to stop and save humanity.

He says that we should not confuse it with the theory of total inactivity. Life will go on moving
as it is to move. There is no change in the laws of nature. There can be no agreement with death
but sadness may trouble us. It is very much essential for us that we must understand ourselves
because there can be life under apparent stillness and there is life beyond it. Nature teaches us
that everything seems dead but later proves to be alive. So, it is of utmost importance for us to
realize the feeling of mutual understanding among all of us.