Keeping Quiet by Pablo Neruda

About the Poet

Poem by Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda, born Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoaltowho always wrote with green ink which according to him, was the colour of hope. Columbian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez once called him the greatest poet of the 20th century of any language

Appeals to readers to take some time out of their busy lives for introspection and retrospection. The aim is to return to our routines with renewed vigour and awareness of ourselves and our actions

THEME: In this deceptively simple poem, the poet has emphasized the need to introspect and bring in the spirit of brotherhood among the people of the world.

VALUES: Introspection, retrospection, universal brotherhood, sensitivity to the environment, peace, empathy, unity etc.

Analysis of the Poem

Neruda begins by asking everyone to count to twelve and keep still. These twelve seconds would help everyone calm themselves and relax and be ready to begin introspection or retrospection.

He wants people to break the barriers of communication and speak no language at all for a few minutes.

These moments of silence would be unique and enticing because in our mundane life, we are constantly working towards selfish goals and never take the time to reflect.

This sudden silence would give us an opportunity to introspect and unite humanity. We would all perform this activity together. Since we would not speak for a while, barriers between communities would break and a sense of brotherhood would prevail.

Man would get an opportunity to realize how he is destroying nature and harming himself in the process. The fishermen that harm aquatic life would realize how nature brings them a cold reception. The man who gathers salt from the sea would realize that nature retaliates by turning his hands rough.

In this silence, futile wars against men and nature would be arrested and a new feeling of unity would be experienced. Those who plan and implement bio warfare and nuclear weaponry should, for once, shed their old attire (profession and preoccupations) and put on clean clothes to walk among their fellow men. They must use this time to truly witness what they would destroy with their attempts to achieve a fruitless victory. Such a win leaves no survivors because even if they were physically alive, they would be emotionally dead and eventually, mankind will perish. The war will be a victory of scientific knowledge but there will be no survivors left.

The poet does not want his desire for inactivity to be misunderstood as a state of uselessness or death. He knows and accepts life as it is. He accepts the rush, the noise and even the belligerent attitudes. He says he

does not begrudge death or want anything to do with it. He does not want people to be like dead, doing nothing, forever. All he wants is that everyone should take out just a few moments from their busy lives for themselves and for the natural world around them.

He feels that if men were not so determined to keep lives moving all the time, the ensuing silence would interrupt sadness that has become so much a part of us that we do not even notice it. This sadness comes from not knowing oneself and always trying to achieve everything possible at the earliest, out of an illogical fear of impending death.

He wants men to learn a lesson from the Earth. The Earth appears to be inactive yet it is constantly and selflessly productive. The natural world seems omnipresent without being ostentatious and hence, is taken for granted. After the cold inactive unproductive winter, spring arrives with bounty and vivacity. Men too could be productive and progressive without any aggression, selfishness and the urge for destruction. They could care for nature as it cares for them. They could, after eons of selfish actions, bring back a degree of nobility, thoughtful attitudes and universal brotherhood.

Sample Answers: Short Questions

Q.1. What is the sadness referred to in the poem?                                                                             2m

Ans.1. The sadness Pablo Neruda refers to in his poem, ‘Keeping Quiet’, is that of never being able to understand ourselves through introspection. It also arises out of our mad rush to achieve everything quickly due to our constant fear of the brevity of our lives.

Q.2. What is the significance of ‘twelve’ in the context of this poem?                                             3m

Ans. 2. Twelve months, twelve zodiac signs, twelve gates of heaven and even the twelve notches on the face of the clock dividing the day into two halves of twelve hours each. Although we do not realize it, the number ‘twelve’ is associated with many things in our life.

This poem is a plea for universal brotherhood and peace. At twelve, the hands of the clock, despite their differences, become one. Even the title of the poem, ‘Keeping Quiet,’ has twelve letters. Hence, Neruda appeals to the readers to take these symbolic twelve seconds to begin the journey from strife, barriers and destruction to peace, unity and replenishment.

Reference to Context

(i)       Now we will count to twelve

and we will all keep still.

This one time upon the earth,

let’s not speak any language,

let’s stop for one second,

and not move our arms so much

1. Why does the poet want us to count to twelve?                                               1m
2. What does the poet ask us to do?                                                         1m
3. What is the significance of ‘twelve’?                                                   2m
4. Why does the poet want us not to use our language and our arms?     2m

(ii)       It would be an exotic moment

without rush, without engines,

we would all be together

in a sudden strangeness.

1. Which exotic moment does the poet refer to?                                      1m
2. Why does the poet feel that the moment would be exotic?                  1m
3. What does the poet want us to do away with?                                     2m
4. Justify the statement: We would all be together in a sudden strangeness        2m

(ii)       Fishermen in the cold sea

would not harm to the whales

and the man gathering salt

would look at his hurt hands.

1. What would the fisherman not do?                                                    1m
2. What would the man gathering salt do?                                             1m
3. What transformation will these actions bring?                                   2m
4. How does nature respond to man’s actions?                                       2m

(iii)      Those who prepare green wars,

wars with gas, wars with fire,

victories with no survivors,

would put on clean clothes

and walk about with their brothers

in the shade, doing nothing.