Detailed Line by Line Explanation

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.

Right in the beginning the poet announces what he wants us to do. He wants us to count till twelve and keep still. He further suggests what we should do during that moment of stillness.

He says that on this Earth (referring to each one of us, global citizens living on this planet) let’s not speak in any language. (Language here symbolizes different cultures, races, religions etc. followed by people in the world. This leads to discrimination, it builds barriers.) He also wants us to stop all work for a second and not even move our arms. (Arms here stand for our body parts and also weapons)

He wants us to adopt a universal language for a moment i.e. silence which will break all barriers that divide us.

It would be an exotic moment

without rush, without engines,

we would all be together

in a sudden strangeness.

The moment that would be achieved after adopting silence, would be an exotic (unusual, rare) one. There will be bliss and harmony in that moment because in that beautiful moment there would be no rush or hurry to achieve or gain more. Life would not be mechanical, moving in haste like machines but all would be together, in harmony with each other in that queer (strange, never achieved before) moment.

Fishermen in the cold sea

would not harm whales

and the man gathering salt

would look at his hurt hands.

The poet then talks about the fishermen killing whales for their benefit. Through this he points at all the powerful people who oppress the weak. He also mentions common people or workers who are busy in making money that they don’t even come to know about their physical & emotional injuries . So, during this stillness there would be no oppression of the weak, man would take care of nature and tend to his own physical and emotional injuries. The moment of silence would be utilized in self-discovery.

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.

In this stanza, he talks about the power-hungry governments, the bureaucrats & the politicians who wage war against countries, nations, even nature for their benefit. All these people who prepare for green wars (to destroy environment), wars with gas (pollution caused by chemicals, factories, industries etc.), wars with fire (use of weapons & bombs to kill others) would put on clean clothes. They would look with a new perspective and walk with their brothers (people on this Earth) in the shade of harmony making peace with each other and doing nothing else.

What I want should not be confused

with total inactivity.

Life is what it is about;

I want no truck with death.

When the poet is talking about stillness, he wants us not to confuse it with total inactivity. For the poet life is a continuous process. Total inactivity would mean death and the poet doesn’t want to have any association with death. (no truck with death). Death has to come to all but till we re alive, live and let others live too. Instead of waging wars and fighting with each other, we should spread peace and harmony. The moment of stillness is to introspect & judge where we are heading to.

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.

In this stanza, the poet says that if we were not so single-minded i.e. materialistic & selfish and not kept our lives moving for personal growth, instead for once if we could stop and do nothing & just observe a huge silence. Then this silence will break our sadness of not taking care of ourselves, not understanding ourselves and in the process threatening ourselves with death. This moment of soul searching would heal our greedy & selfish soul and we would be able to cure our sadness and promote peace and harmony.

Perhaps the Earth can teach us

as when everything seems dead

and later proves to be alive.

Now I’ll count up to twelve

and you keep quiet and I will go.

Here, the poet wants us to learn from Earth. Earth is a great teacher. When everything seems dead on the Earth (the poet points at winter season, when life slows down) later it becomes alive. (spring season, rejuvenation). So, during this moment of silence, we should search our souls, introspect and unite. We would also be rejuvenated & should begin anew with a new zeal. Providing us with a blueprint, the poet says that now he would count till twelve for us to be quiet and he would leave us in this moment of introspection. He wants us to take a right decision and take action to spread brotherhood.

Poetic Devices

1. Pun:

and not move our arms so much.

duplicity of sense (an arm stands here for a body part as well as weapons)

2. Alliteration: Sudden strangeness

•Wars with fire, wars with gas (alliteration & repetition)

•(The repetition of a single word or a phrase in immediate succession- Palilogia- it is a type of repetition.

Wars with .... wars with ..... are in immediate succession and this type comes in the category of repetition only.)

3. Personification: the Earth can teach us- here Earth has taken up a human quality of teaching.

4. Oxymoron: Green wars

•Figuratively the word ‘green’ refers to practices or policies that do not negatively affect the environment. E.g. green power, it means safe power.

•But here ‘green wars’ is a totally contradictory term.

•Metaphor: Clean clothes is used as a metaphor for adopting (wearing) a new perspective, a new way of thinking.

•Extended Metaphor:

Perhaps the Earth can teach us

as when everything seems dead

and later proves to be alive.

The Earth seems to be dead. It requires a patient eye to perceive life on Earth. For example plants don’t grow in a day, they seem to be dead but later you find they have blossomed.

This stillness can also be compared to the stillness of winter. Life slows down during winter. After winter comes spring, marking renewal, rejuvenation & rebirth. The silence recommended by the poet paves way to a new perspective.

•Symbolism: fisherman & whale stand for the oppressor and the oppressed respectively.

•Salt gatherer is symbolic of common man or worker busy in gathering material things.

•Enjambment:

It would be an exotic moment

without rush, without engines,

we would all be together

in a sudden strangeness.

Line 1 & 2 show a continuity of thought, they run into each other. Similarly line 3 & 4.

Thus it is an example of enjambment.

(Find more examples from the poem.)

•Rhyme scheme: Blank verse

Tone: calm, serene, reflective.

The poet is not at all angry or holds the selfishness of man in contempt, he rather presents a solution and tackles the problem calmly. There no rush or overexcitement but it advocates serenity and self-reflection through its tone.

THEME

The poem is about introspecting ourselves. Looking inside is what we miss in our daily hustle-bustle. A moment of silence, as propagated by Neruda, will provide us with many answers. All our efforts to accumulate wealth, gain dominance, acquire land and cause destruction for self interest will seem futile. Once that moment of self-realization is achieved, we will be at peace with ourselves, we will realize the true meaning of life. There will be peace & harmony at the individual level and in society. The poet has picked up another important theme, aggression and violence among nations. In very stern words, he labels war to be useless & unnecessary- a victory with no survivors. He points to the readers not to confuse the moment of stillness with inactivity, that moment will be the moment of upliftment, breaking barriers and walking ahead with our brothers in harmony. What we will gain after that moment will be a new perspective, a changed viewpoint, a new beginning (rebirth) as after the latency of winter.

Title

‘Keeping Quiet’, the title of the poem is suggestive of the value of silence. If speech is silver, silence is golden and this moment of silence, propagated by Neruda in his poem, manifests harmony and bliss. Being quiet and silent leads to introspection and with it comes a realization of triviality and hollowness of war, violence, discrimination, destruction and amassing wealth at the cost of self. By keeping quiet man will undergo self-healing and understand the significance of living in harmony with each other and nature. Thus, the title aptly describes Neruda’s philosophy of the power of silence & the ultimate bliss one can achieve with it.

Important Questions with Answers

1.What is the significance of the number twelve?

The number twelve here signifies the hours on the clock or twelve months in a year. It refers to the daily grind man goes through for amassing material things. It may also refer to the number twelve on the clock where both the hands of the clock meet, signifying coming together in that moment of bliss.

2.What will counting up to twelve and keeping still help us achieve ?

According to the poet, counting till twelve and keeping still will result in quiet introspection. During this moment, there will be self-realization and self-healing. Man will realize the futility of destruction and selfishness & recognize the worth of living together in peace and harmony.

3.Do you think the poet advocates total inactivity and death ?

No, the poet does not advocate total inactivity and death. The moment of stillness is not the moment of idleness but quiet meditation for self-realization. By keeping still we can introspect ourselves and heal our souls. By not engaging in any activity for a moment, we can restart and continue with a new perspective and fresh zeal.

4.What is the ‘sadness’ that the poet refers to in the poem?

Throughout his life man keeps himself busy in accumulating wealth, causing destruction to nature, waging wars with each other, which results in self injury causing sadness. The poet wants man to leave everything and be quiet for a moment and take time to heal himself by introspection.

5.How would humanity benefit if people do not speak in any language?

Throughout the world many different languages are spoken, different cultures are followed which create a barrier, a divide among people of different nations. Keeping quiet and not speaking in any language would break the barriers of discrimination as all will adopt the universal language of ‘silence’. This moment of silence would reveal the true meaning of life, which is spreading brotherhood and living in peace and harmony with each other.

6.What does the poet mean by ‘not move our arms so much’?

‘Move our arms’ here refers to the activity of man (using his arms) in fulfilling his selfish goals & amassing wealth. It also refers to the use of ‘arms’, the weapons against each other in our hatred and hunger for power. The poet thus urges to stop all kinds of activity, physical and violent during the moment of silence and introspect to yield harmony in the world.

(here ‘pun’ is used in the word ‘arms’- check literary devices)

7.What ‘exotic moment’ does the poet mention in the poem?

The ‘exotic moment’ gained by keeping quiet would be a unique and rare moment, never reached before. It would be a moment of bliss when peace, harmony, universal brotherhood and togetherness would prevail. And this moment would be achieved by introspection and self-realization.

8.Why does it arouse a feeling of ‘sudden strangeness’ on counting to twelve and keeping quiet?

On counting to twelve and keeping quiet, the poet calls for refraining from all activity. When such an unusual moment would be reached, it would be a strange feeling, something never achieved before. Therefore this rare occasion would instill a feeling of ‘sudden strangeness’. Man is usually busy working amidst machines, noise & everyday commotion, so it would be strange for him to witness such an instant.

9.What does ‘without rush, without engines’ symbolize?

With the advancement in technology and industry, man has entered in a rat-race with his fellows. There is a rush to achieve more and win. Man is surrounded by the noise of machines and leads a chaotic life. Therefore the expression symbolizes the daily grind, commotion and hustle- bustle of man. When the poet suggests a moment ‘without rush, without engines’, he points to a quiet moment of introspection that would make him aware of the futility of this rush.

10.What are ‘fishermen’ symbolic of? What would happen when fishermen do not harm whales?

‘Fishermen’ are symbolic of man’s greed and destruction of nature to fulfill his desires. Man’s indiscriminate use of the resources of nature has harmed the planet beyond repair. Fishermen killing whales also symbolizes man’s oppression of the weak.

When fishermen do not kill whales, the threat to nature will come to an end. There will be harmony between man and nature.

11.Why would the man gathering salt look at his hurt hands?

Man gathering salt is an image of a common man busy in his endeavors to lead a luxurious life. He undergoes a lot of suffering during this process and inflicts injuries to himself (hurt hands) without realizing. In the moment of silence when he would introspect and sit by himself, he would look at his injuries and try to heal them. He would think about the actual goal of his life.

12.Explain: ‘green wars, wars with gas, wars with fire’.

The poet here refers to wars that man wages against man & nature because of his greed, hatred & jealousy. Man has engaged himself in destroying nature for his selfish gains. Industrialization & development has led to vast scale pollution. Nations are not at peace with each other and use dangerous weapons- chemical and nuclear to destroy each other. According to the poet, man has failed to understand that with such activities, he is threatening himself with death.

13.What does the poet mean by ‘victory with no survivors’.

During war soldiers of both sides are killed. With people mourning for their loved ones on both sides, what is the real gain of the winning side? War causes a lot of destruction, both at the physical and the psychological level. So, the poet voices his concern for nations at war with each other and states that even when the winning side cannot completely rejoice its win, because no country can win a war without any casualty, why not end all differences and put on clean clothes. There is no use of ‘victory with no survivors’.

14.What would happen when men ‘put on clean clothes’?

‘Clean clothes’ here is used as a metaphor for new perspective, a new view point. During the moment of silence as advocated by the poet, people, politicians, leaders, scientists, army generals will have some time to introspect. They will do some soul-searching and realize their mistake. They will understand the uselessness and hollowness of war and develop a new perspective. They will strip off their old thinking of hatred, jealousy and greed and put on clean clothes (new thinking) of universal brotherhood and harmony.

15.What does total inactivity imply?

Total inactivity implies not doing anything, a state of complete idleness and lethargy both physically and mentally.

16.What doesn’t the poet want to be confused with ‘total inactivity’ and why?

The poet doesn’t want death to be confused with ‘total inactivity’. ‘Total inactivity’ as advocated by the poet is to bring all activities to a standstill and take a pause to introspect. He wants us to observe silence and ponder upon our destructive activities because of which along with nature, man has put himself in danger too. This pause is to be utilized to bring a change in our actions, actions that will promote harmony and brotherhood.

17.Explain: ‘life is what it is all about’.

Life is ‘being alive’. It is to move on, to do & to perform. It is a continuous process. Life cannot stop at any moment, even during the moment of complete silence, the poet wants us to do some soul-searching, to have a look at our past actions and their consequences.

18.Explain: I want no truck with death.

The poet doesn’t want to be associated with death in any way. Death is a reality and he doesn’t want to worry about it before it comes. Till then he wants to live his life peacefully and wants the same from humanity at large.

19.Explain the phrase ‘single-minded’ in context to the poem.

‘Single-minded’ here means to direct all activities towards accumulating wealth regardless of the destruction caused by him to the environment, his fellow beings and himself.

20.Explain: ‘keeping our lives moving’.

The phrase points at the busy life that man is living. He is in a constant race to acquire more and doesn’t have time to reflect and heal his own self.

21.Explain: ‘sadness of never understanding ourselves’.

Man is trapped in his own desires which force him to compete with each other. This springs up jealousy, hatred and dissatisfaction. He is always on the go. He never spends time with himself, caring about his emotions, reflecting and searching for what he really wants. This makes him sad and depressed.

22.Explain: ‘you keep quiet and I will go’?

The poet has provided us with an approach to bring harmony in the world. He wants us to observe silence and enjoy the bliss so achieved. He urges to utilize that moment to the fullest and introspect even when he is gone.

23.How has man threatened himself with death?

All the destructive activities that man is posing to the environment, to his fellows and himself in his greed to acquire more is actually taking him close to his death. Man can only survive if he lives in harmony with nature and his fellows.

24.‘Perhaps a huge silence’, what does huge silence imply here?

‘Huge silence’ suggests the silence achieved by humanity at large. On counting till twelve, everyone will keep quiet at the same time and the silence thus achieved would be ‘huge’. Also such an activity is surely going to have an enormous effect.

25.What does the Earth teach us?

Earth personifies patience, perseverance, regrowth and rebirth. Earth may look inactive, but life on Earth is in continuous progress. After every night, when even nature seems to sleep, comes a day full of renewed energy and activity. New saplings grow out of the seemingly dormant seeds, the dullness of Winter fades into Spring. Thus, the Earth teaches us to take a brief pause and begin again, learning from the past mistakes, with a new zeal.

26.What does ‘everything seems dead’ imply?

There is no rush in nature. Everything grows, propagates, lives and evolves at its own pace. There is no hurry among the elements of nature. So, ‘everything seems dead’ i.e. lifeless when observed externally.

27.How will it later ‘prove to be alive’?

It will prove to be alive later when we will become sensitive enough to observe deeply. Old and decayed is always giving way to new life on Earth.

28.What is the significance of ‘Keeping Quiet’?

Keeping Quiet signifies man’s need to reflect upon his destructive activities. Man has engaged himself in a lot of pursuits which take him away from his spiritual being. By keeping quiet, humanity at large will get time to pause and think about the harm done to the environment, their fellows and themselves. This will result in a new perspective and a changed attitude yielding peace and harmony in the world.

29.What has divided man from man?

The differences of language, race, caste, culture, hatred, and jealousy because of the greed to acquire more has created a divide among people. People cannot see each other eye to eye. Emotional sensitivity has taken a back seat and man is in a constant haste to defeat the other.