Keeping Quiet

KEEPING QUIET

Question Answers

Q1       What will counting upto twelve and keeping still help us achieve? 
The poet is emphasizing on the importance of taking a pause from our  busy lives and to introspect within ourselves. He wants us to realize the impact of our deeds and be happy on our achievements. 

Q2       Do you think the poet advocates total inactivity and death? 
No,  the poet says in the lines-
“What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.”
It is clear from these lines that he does not advocate total inactivity or death.

Q3       What is the ‘sadness’ that the poet refers to in the poem? 
The ‘sadness’ referred by the poet is the disappointment which engulfs our lives despite the fact that we are busy in completing our tasks for our survival. This is so because we are ruining our lives by our deeds. We are doing such works of destruction that we are digging our own graves of sadness. 

Q4       What symbol from Nature does the poet invoke to say that there can be life under apparent stillness? 
The poet uses the Earth as a symbol to depict that even when every creation of nature on the Earth becomes still, it is living beneath that stillness and after some time, once again becomes lively.

Q5       What does the title of the poem suggests to you? What do you think the poem is about?

Answer : The title of the poem suggests the importance of silence. The poem is about the importance of self-examination and introspection. It is also an appeal for universal harmony

 Q7      What will counting up to twelve and keeping still help us achieve?

 Answer : According to the poet, taking a break from our monotonous routine by 'counting up to twelve' and 'keeping still' will help us understand ourselves and those around us better. The quietness will aid our understanding of the significance of peace and tranquility in this age of futile activities. Thus, they will help us in introspection and self-analysis.

Q8       Do you think the poet advocates total inactivity and death?

Answer : Although the poet believes that silences assist in introspection and help in taking a break from the world of frenzy activity, he does not advocate total inactivity and death. Rather, he believes that observing stillness once in a while helps people to spring back in action, rejuvenated.

Q9       What is the 'sadness' that the poet refers to in the poem?

Answer : The poet refers to the 'sadness' of failing to understand oneself in the monotonous every day existence. He also finds it sad that the humanity is moving towards its own ruin owing to its unanalyzed actions. He regrets the rush of outdoing others that has made us forget the values of humanity.

Q10     What symbol from Nature does the poet invoke to say that there can be life under apparent stillness? Answer : The poet uses the symbol of the earth to illustrate the point that there can be life under apparent stillness.

Reference to Context

Stanza 1 Now we will........so much.

Q1  Name the poem and the poet.

Ans  The name of the poem is ‘Keeping Quiet’ and the poet is Pablo   Neruda.

Q2  What is the significance of the number ‘twelve’?

Ans  There are twelve hours in a clock and 12 months in a year.

Q3  Which two activities does the poet want us to stop?

Ans  The poet wants us to stop speaking and moving our arms.

Q4  What is the hidden meaning (pun)  behind these terms- speak in   any language and arms?

Ans  ‘Speak in any language’ means conflicts and arguments among   people of different regions speaking different languages.

  ‘Arms’ means our limbs as well as weapons.

  So, the poet wants us to stop arguing and fighting.

Stanza II It would.....sudden strangeness

Q1  What will happen if there is no rush or running of engines?

Ans  There will be unusual silence and peace in the world.

Q2  What sort of moment will it be?

Ans  It will be a strange and rare moment.

Q3  What would all of us feel at that moment?

Ans  All of will feel united in the strangeness of the moment.

Q4  Why would it be an exotic moment?

Ans  It would be an exotic moment because there will be complete   silence and no one would be hurrying about.

Stanza III  Fishermen....hands

Q1  What are the fishermen doing? What do the fishermen refer to? What would   they realise in the moment of silence?

Ans  The fishermen are catching whales in the polar sea. The fishermen here refer   to all human being exploiting and harming nature. The fishermen will stop   and think consciously how they are causing harm to nature.

Q2  Who is the ‘man gathering salt’? What will he think about in his moment of   silence?

Ans  ‘The man gathering salt’ is working endlessly and tirelessly to survive. His   hands are torn and hurt. In his moment of silence he will rest and introspect   about his goals.

Q3  Why does the poet want us to stop?

Ans  The poet wants us to stop so that nature as well as we ourselves get time to   recover form our wounds and injuries.

Stanza IV  Those ....a thing

Q1  What are the different wars that are mentioned by the poet?

Ans  The poet mentions green wars which means the exploitation of nature by   man through activities like deforestation, mining, oil extraction. He also   mentions  wars with gas and fire which refers to nuclear, biological or   conventional war against fellow human beings.

Q2  What is the poet’s attitude towards these wars?

Ans  The poet feels that such wars are useless as there are no survivors and such   victories are meaningless.

Q3  What should the lovers of war do?

Ans  They should leave behind the thoughts of war and work towards universal   brotherhood, peace and harmony.

Stanza V What....death

Q1  Who does ‘we’ refer to?

Ans  It refers to humans who are always thinking about their progress.

Q2  Which sadness is the poet talking about?

Ans  According to the poet, we become sad because we do not have the time to   appreciate our own achievements and actins and we keep running to get   more. There is always a sense of discontent no matter how much we get. We   have no time to introspect about our own actions and their consequences.

Q3  How can a huge silence do good to us?

Ans  In the silence, we can introspect about our actions and consequences and   understand ourselves well. We can pause from the mad rush and take out   time to analyse or actions and goals.

Q4  Explain ‘I want no truck with death’.

Ans  The poet is not advocating death but only a moment’s of stillness and   inactivity for introspection.

Stanza VI Perhaps.....will go

Q1  Who does ‘we’ refer to?

Ans  It refers to humans who are always thinking about their progress.

Q2  Which sadness is the poet talking about?

Ans  According to the poet, we become sad because we do not have the time to   appreciate our own achievements and actins and we keep running to get   more. There is always a sense of discontent no matter how much we get. We   have no time to introspect about our own actions and their consequences.

Q3  How can a huge silence do good to us?

Ans  In the silence, we can introspect about our actions and consequences and   understand ourselves well. We can pause from the mad rush and take out   time to analyse or actions and goals.

Q4  Explain ‘I want no truck with death’.

Ans  The poet is not advocating death but only a moment’s of stillness and   inactivity for introspection.

Main points

The poem talks about the necessity of quiet introspection.

It will help people to understand themselves & will create the feeling of mutual love & relationship.

By quiet introspection, the poet doesn’t mean total inactivity; instead he wants full involvement with life.

The reason for the discard & war is the imbalance between man & nature.

Quiet introspection will establish a spiritual & physical union that is most desirable for the survival of the earth & of human beings.

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1) Write down the central theme in the poem ‘‘keeping quiet’’?

OR

1) Why does Pablo Neruda asks all the human beings to keep quiet?

Ans-Pablo Neruda asks all the human beings to stop all our worldly activities for a while and spend our few moments in quiet introspection. It will keep us to understand ourselves. We are in troubles because we always remain in hurry and rush. Let us withdraw ourselves from all undesirable actions and remain quiet. It will bring all together and a feeling of understanding will develop.

2) ‘‘We should neither speak nor move our arms’’. Elucidate.

Ans- The poet urges us not to speak much by using different languages because it will create unnecessary disputes and discussions. Thus, the poet asks us to keep quiet and we should speak through our hearts. By moving arms, we harm each others. Therefore the poet wants to have rest and repose.

3) What does the poet call ‘an exotic moment’ and why?

Ans- Unneccessary rush and hurry have troubled and tensed all of us. The noise of machines and engines also need to be stopped for a while because it creates disturbance. When everything is at rest, it will be an exotic moment for all. It will give us unusual feeling and all will enjoy sudden strangeness. We should feel ourselves as one with all others leaving aside all our selfish ends.

4) How can we understand ourselves?

Ans- We can understand ourselves if we stop all our activities for a moment and engage in quiet introspection. We should neither move our arms nor use any language to speak a word. Then it will be a blissful moment for all of us. It will help us in understanding ourselves.

5) Why does the poet address the ‘fishermen’ and the ‘salt gatherers’?

Ans- If we peep into the philosophy of the poet, one can note that he is against any kind of trouble, violence and attack. By calling upon the fishermen, he urges them not to harm the whales. In the same way he is against the salt gatherers whose hands are hurt during the salt gathering process. He wants all of them to stop for a while and do introspection.

6) What does Pablo Neruda say about the wars?

Ans- The poet points out three types of wars. In the green wars, we are cutting down the forests and vitiating our green and fresh environment. Then there is a war off poisonous gases that puts all of us in danger. The war of firearms is all the more dangerous. He is against all types of wars. He urges these people to wear clean clothes and walk with other people under shady trees. Here the poet is referring to create a sense of mutual understanding among all.

7) Why does the poet say that stillness should not be confused with total inactivity?

Ans- The poet makes us clear not to confuse stillness with total inactivity. Total inactivity means death but the poet has no association with death. Stillness means stopping one’s activities for a short moment. Life must go on as usual. He says that the essence of life is activity while inactivity is death.

8) How will ‘counting upto twelve’ and ‘keeping still’ keep us?

Ans- By counting upto twelve and keeping still, will give an opportunity to think about ourselves. In this moment we can even think about the world as well. We are responsible for creating chaos, confusion, trouble and hurry. We need both peace and introspection.

9) According to the poet Pablo Neruda what is that human beings can learn from nature?

Ans- We must not forget that nature is a fine teacher. It teaches a lot of things to all of us. It keeps on working and remains calm and composed. So teaches us to be quiet and still. It is no use to hinder others. We should grow and develop at our own place. We should be contended with what we possess. There is no need for greed. The nature always remains alive.

10) ‘‘We should not be so single minded.’’ Why does the poet say so?

Ans- In this world all human beings are so single minded that they do not have the feeling of mutual understanding among themselves. They remain extra busy and want to go on in the same way. The poet wishes they should not be self absorbing. They should not be on the move. They need both silence and rest.

11) What do you say about the title ‘keeping quiet’?

Ans- We see that people are in a hurry and rush. They remain self absorbed. Their actions lead to much sufferings and troubles. There is much need of self introspection. Stillness and silence will keep them to achieve a desirable result. So the title is appropriate and logical.

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LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

A) What does the poet Pablo Neruda aims us to achieve through this poem ‘keeping quiet’?

Ans- Poet Pablo Neruda in his poem ‘keeping quiet’ is asking all of us on earth to keep silent and still for a moment. He tells it is the first requirement of self introspection. Through calm self introspection we can attain a state of ‘self realisation’. This state of knowing ourselves creates us a feeling of mutual understanding among human beings.

Through this stage of momentary silence and stillness we try the stage of ‘know thyself’. It further gives us the real meaning and the real aim of life. It is only when we know, ‘life is life’ which is full of activities, dynamism and liveliness; we get rid of our sadness of life and also of the fear of death.

2) How does the poet Pablo Neruda tackle this sudden strangeness in his poem ‘keeping quiet’?

Ans-After counting to twelve everyone of us become silent and still- no one is speaking and o one is moving. All of us thus become one. It becomes a foreign moment and in this sudden strangeness it appears like the victory of wars without survivors. But it leads us to calm introspection, to a feeling of mutual understanding among all the human beings. It brings real joy by developing a feeling of mutual understanding. This total and complete passiveness gives a strange feeling of death everywhere.

Earth the symbol from nature teaches us. All that seemed dead to be alive. Thus this sudden strangeness of calm self-introspection shows us that nothing is dead. Everything is alive and life is about life, it is around life and it is for life.

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3) What specific ideas does the poet present before us in the poem ‘keeping quiet’?

Ans-Pablo Neruda stresses the importance of stillness and the need of quiet introspection. There is a great need of creating a feeling of mutual understanding among human beings. He urges neither to talk nor to make movements of arms. He asks to stop hurry and the working of machines for a moment. He even asks the fishermen and the salt gatherers to stop working. He is against wars because the victory is meaningless without the survivors. Rather he urges the different war wagers to come together and go out for a walk with their brothers. It will create a feeling of mutual understanding.

The poet further says that we should not confuse stillness with total inactivity. Total inactivity would amount to death as the poet has no association with death. He wants silence for a while which can soothe our feelings and help us in removing the sadness. We must learn a lesson from the earth which always remains alive though everything seems dead. Thus the life goes on the earth under apparent stillness.