KEEPING QUIET, CBSE ENGLISH LITERATURE CHAPTER, Q ANS, POETIC DEVICES, PABLO NERUDA

 “Keeping Quiet” is a poem written by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. The poet asks us to count numbers from one to twelve - twelve being the number of hours shown in a clock on day and night halves. He requests everyone not to talk or do any activity because people becomes inimical after they speak and annoy each other. Their actions often cause harm to the environment, society, humanity, the animal kingdom or themselves. The moment when everyone stops moving their body will be very special and different as we have never experienced such a moment before. 

This period of inactivity will disengage the fishermen not to harm the whales, the salt gatherers will not hurt their hands, those who are busy destroying nature in the name of economy, development and industry. The men who are preparing for wars and victory based on deaths of innocent people will join their enemy and stand in unity with them. They would realise the futility of engaging into collateral destruction because it will bring all out devastation and the earth will cease to exist. Following inactive periods, introspection may dawn on them and everyone will unite and ponder upon his acts and realize the results of his deeds.

There’s a mischance of the poet’s idea being conceived as a suggestion to remain idle. The poet clarifies his idea .He does not want people to remain idle. He wants Universal brotherhood and peace. The poet says that everyone must strive continuously to achieve such goals. People are threatened by death. Fear forces them into working endlessly so that they may touch all the milestones quickly. In this mad rush, they do not realize the repercussions of their acts. He wants us to pause and come out of the mad rush. He wants us to be happy about our little achievements and celebrate them. He wants us to overcome the fear of death and to relax for a while. We should know the results of our deeds and celebrate our achievements.

Man will realize the purpose of his life only when he retrospects. Nature undergoes a rebirth with the change of seasons. In the like manner, keeping quiet will be a rebirth for the human soul. It will give a new meaning to our life. Again, the poet says that he will count till twelve and he asks everyone to remain quiet while he leaves.

 Pablo Neruda discusses the need of maintaining peace and silence. He stresses upon being quiet, introspective and harmless to the human beings, animals and our environment. 

The poem is written in free verse. It does not follow any rhyme scheme.

 

What will ‘counting upto twelve and keeping still’ help us achieve?

If we count upto twelve and keep still, it will help us to stop our minds and ponder over our deeds. It will allow us some moments to think about the outcome of our ongoing activities. People are at war and are damaging the environment by the use of firearms, chemical warheads. Unfortunately this is taking all of us toward our own end. So, we need to pause and understand the necessity of peace and harmony. 

Q2- Do you think the poet advocates total inactivity and death?

No, the poet doesn’t advocate total inactivity and death. He clarifies this in his poem that he wants all the people to just stop for a while in order to analyze their activities and their consequences. He wants us to take charge of the situation, understand our roles and not to support war and damage to the environment. 

Q3- What is the ‘sadness’ that the poet refers to in the poem?

The sadness is the result of our own actions and deeds. We have become selfish. We think of our survival little raelising that if we survive alone with no one to live with us, we’ll be at peril. Cooperation and coexistence is the key to sustained development. According to the poet we all are in a hurry to achieve various tasks in our life. This rush sometimes proves dangerous for us. As we don’t analyze our actions, we land ourselves in a number of problems. These problems then become the reason for our sadness as referred to in the poem.

What symbol from Nature does the poet invoke to say that there can be life under apparent stillness?

The poet takes the example of earth to prove that there can be life under apparent stillness. The earth never gets inactive. Apparently, it does not boisterously announce its actions. It’s actions are subtle. We experience the change in the seasons which brings so many different things with it. In winters, things come to a standstill as the water bodies freeze. We see the trees shed their leaves. But as soon as the spring season kicks in, it brings with it the lovely flowers, flowing rivers and a new life is seen reviving in nature. So, the poet wants to convey that we should stay calm and introspective like this silent earth and be yet active inwardly.

A FEW POETIC DEVICES USED IN THE POEM:

Antithesis: It is  the juxtaposition of opposing or contrasting ideas. e.g. “count to twelve and we will all keep still”. Here counting and keeping still are contrasting activities and are put together.

Repetition: It is the repetition of phrases in the poem for poetic effect. e.g. “without rush, without engines“.

Symbolism: The poet uses various symbols in the poem. e.g. “Brothers” symbolise mankind, “green wars” refer to deforestation, “wars with gas” refers to pollution, “clean clothes” symbolise change of perspective, “shade” symbolises protection etc.

 

Alliteration: It is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words. e.g. “we will count”, “sudden strangeness”, “stop for one second”, “his hurt hands”, “clean clothes”.

Metaphor: It is used to make a comparison between two things that aren’t alike but do have something in common. e.g. “shade” refers to protection.

Enjambment: It is the continuation of a sentence to the next line/stanza. In the poem, many sentences continue to multiple lines. e.g. “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.” etc.

Personification: it is the attribution of human characteristics to non-human things and animals. e.g. “Earth can teach us as when everything“.