KEEPING QUITE, CLASS XII

 

KEEPING QUITE:

Read the following extract ad answer the following:

1.       “ 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.”

 

i.                     How long does the poet want to stay still?

Ans-  The poet ask everyone to count to twelve and be still after the counting to do introspection.

ii.                   Why does he ask us to keep still and not use any language?

Ans- Too much activities and rush has only brought misfortunes to mankind. Hence it is better to be quiet and still. The poet urges everyone to break the barriers of language and unite with one tune, i.e. silence. The identity of a country should be humanity and not language. The people in the world have been indulging in wars and bloodsheds on little things, therefore the poet wants us to keep quiet to avoids disputes and quarrels. He believes this quietness will bring peace.

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

Ans- Men have moved their arms only to harm others. Therefore, the poet wants us not to move our arms so much. There could be mutual understanding among people if arms are not moved so much. Thus, the poet wants us to be still, to cease our works for some time and try to be calm for a change.   

 

2.       What is the sadness that the poet refers to in the poem Keeping Quiet?

Ans-  The sadness that the poet refers to in the poem is the formation of man’s own thought and action. It is surprising that man who can understand everything fail to understand his own actions and himself/ herself. Rash  actions are always disastrous and harmful.  All disasters are created by man. He is threatening himself with death by his action and thoughts. He finds it sad that humanity is lost and this is the disaster of his life.

3.       Why quietness would be an exotic moment for the speaker in “Keeping Quite”?

Ans-  According to the poet Quietness will bring peace all around, no rush, no running engine sounds. All of us shall enjoy the sudden strangeness of the moment together. The poet thinks that if we don’t speak in any language and keep us away from destructive activities we will be able to experience a blissful moment, an exciting, enticing moment. Because at that moment there will be no hustle and bustle of our daily life. There will be tranquil moment with no engine sounds or machine sounds. This will bring us to a sense of togetherness or brotherhood and that moment will be a strange moment for us as we have not witness such moment in the past.

 

4.       What is Pablo Neruda’s opinion about different kinds of wars?

Ans-  The poet speaks about the most significant impact of introspection. He thinks that introspection can bring a revolutionary change in the perception of even the war mongers. Green war against the environment, wars with poisonous gases and wars with fire must be terminated at once. Instead of the wars the people must develop feeling of togetherness. The wars are only source of self-destruction and there will be no one to celebrate the victory. The poet wants to stop all wars.

 Explanations-

Stanza 1:

Now we will count to twelve

and we will all keep still.

- The poet asks everyone to count to twelve and be still after the counting to do introspection. Here counting up to twelve has many significances. By counting to 12 the poet wants to refer to the twelve hours mark on the dial of which represent  the time of a day and by this the poet wants to convey the idea that in the entire day we have to find out a moment for introspection.

Twelve may also refer to twelve months of the year and by this he wants to convey the idea that in the entire year everyday we have to find out a moment for introspection.

Moreover, twelve may refer to 12 o clock because at 12 o clock all the three hands meet one another and similarly the poet wants to convey the idea that after counting up to twelve if we do introspection we can feel togetherness among us.

stanza 2

The poet urges to stop for one stop for one second. He urges us to keep ourselves off for at least one second from the destructive and negative activities. Here the word arms is with dual meaning. He apparently indicates arms as our hand engaged in several activities and at the same time refers to the weapons we use for destruction.

Stanza 4

If we be still we shall be able to introspect the mistake and wrong done. The fisherman would not harm the whales at that moment. Here, fisherman represent man and whales represent the nature. So, according to the poet, if we do introspection, we will stop our destructive activities against nature. On the other hand, the salt gatherers also get the time and opportunity to look after themselves. Here, salt gatherers represent all the poor working class people. The poor people remain so engaged in their work to earn their livelihood that they never get time to look after themselves. But if they remain silent and still for a moment at least they will get the opportunity to look after themselves.

Stanza 5

Here the poet speaks about the most significant impact of introspection. The poet thinks that introspection can bring a revolutionary change in the perception of even the war mongers. The people who prepare green war i.e. war against nature or environment, war with poisonous gases, war with fire weapons will realize the futility of war that is self destructive and there will be no one to celebrate the victory. Thus, the warmongers will adopt an anti violent attitude and with a new approach of brotherhood they will walk with one another holding each other's hand doing no harmful activity towards one another.

Stanza 6

The poet here wants to make a point clear that his message of silence should not be confused with total inactivity or inertia. He further clears that his message does not have any affinity with death. According to the poet, the regular activities of life must go on. The process of life must be carried out by us. What the poet says is that amidst all our activities and responsibilities, we have to find out a moment to remain still and silent to do introspection. He wants us to stop a while and feel the tranquility so that introspection is done to bring positive vibes to our lives.