KEEPING QUIET

By Pablo Neruda
Introduction:
The poem “Keeping Quiet” written by Pablo Neruda discusses the need of
maintaining peace and silence. He stresses upon being quiet and harmless to the
human beings, animals and environment. He suggests that in order to maintain
peace and harmony, it is required to stop and introspect ourselves.

Theme of the poem:

The power of silence and thought as a means of comprehending and engaging with
the world is the theme of the poem “Keeping Quiet”. In order to develop a better
understanding of themselves and their surroundings, the poet emphasizes on
stillness and watching nature. The speaker makes the claim that one can develop a
sense of oneness with one’s surroundings and other people by remaining silent and
observing. The poem also considers how the modern world may be noisy and
distracting and how spending some time to be silent and still can be a helpful
strategy for obtaining clarity and inner calm.

Rhyme scheme of the poem

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

Explanation of the poem:

First stanza
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.

The poet here requests everyone to count till twelve in their own mind and to stop
for a while. May be this ‘twelve’ referred by the poet is the twelve hours in the
clock or the twelve months in a year. He wants everyone to stop and calm down.
The poet urges everyone not to speak any language. As we all know that there are
different languages spoken in different parts of the earth which sometimes become
a barrier in our way for peace. So, he asks people not to speak. Not only this, he
also wants us to stop moving our arms. By using the word ‘arms’ he means the
weapons which are used by different countries to raise a war against each other.
So basically, the poet is demanding peace from all of us.

Literary devices:

Assonance: Use of vowel sound ‘o’ and ‘e’ (Now we will count to twelve, not
move our arms so much)
Anaphora: Two consecutive lines starting with the word ‘Let’s’
let’s not speak in any language,
let’s stop for one second,
Alliteration: the repetition of a consonant sound at the start of 2 or more closely
placed words.
‘we will’ – ‘w’ sound is repeated
Second stanza
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines,
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.
Fishermen in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.

Poet says that it would be a rare situation when there will be no engines working.
Here he wants to say that if everything comes to standstill, it will be a very different
moment. If all the engines like the vehicles and machines stop, then there will be a
sudden, strange situation as the world will experience a sudden calmness. People
will not be in a rush to achieve material things one after another. Further the poet
says that the fisherman will also stop and not harm whales in the sea. This means
that the poet is urging everyone not to harm the animals. Here he gives the
example of whales which are being hunted for the purpose of food or trade. He
also wants people to calm down so that they can stop and see what they have
achieved or lost. For this he gives the example of the man who gathers salt, whose
hands are hurt. Here he wants everyone to stop for a while in order to see and feel
their achievements and how much they have lost for the sake of attaining such
materialistic things.
Literary devices:

Alliteration- ‘we would’ – ‘w’ sound is repeated, ‘sudden strangeness’ – ‘s’ sound is
repeated, ‘his hurt hands’ – ‘h’ sound is repeated.

Third stanza
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.
What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.

The poet asks everyone to stop those activities which are damaging the
environment. Today all the human beings are making money by damaging the
environment with their activities such as mining, deforestation, letting the chemical
waste into rivers, etc. The poet asks us not to do so. He also requests people not to
involve in wars as there is no benefit of achieving such victory in which no one is
left alive. He says so because wars and environmental damage will lead to no life
on earth. Rather, he wants people to adopt a new approach towards life and
mankind. He says that you should treat your enemy like brothers and promote
peace and harmony in the world.
Literary devices:
Alliteration: ‘wars with’ – ‘w’ sound is repeated, ‘clean clothes’ – ‘c’ sound is
repeated
Assonance: use of vowel ‘o’ (victory with no survivors, would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers)
Repetition: use of ‘war’

Fourth stanza
If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.

Now the poet wants to clarify to his readers that when he asks them to stop from
saying or doing anything, he doesn’t want anyone to become a non-active person.
Non-active is a person who remains idle and doesn’t do anything. Here, he simply
means that we should stop and see the consequences of our deeds. The poet
doesn’t want to see people being killed due to their greed for money and expansion
of territories. Further, he says that people are continuously working to achieve
their tasks without even thinking about their results. They are in fear of death and
therefore, want to achieve most of the things before their death. Here he urges
them to stop for a while and take some moment to relish on what they have
 achieved till now. Everyone here is living a life in which he wants to achieve various
things one after another. But now the poet says it is the time to stop and see what
has been achieved and should be enjoyed. This will help us skip the sadness which
has become so prominent in our lives. The sadness of not enjoying what we have
achieved and the greed to achieve what next is in the list to be achieved.
Literary devices

Alliteration: we were, so single – minded

enjambment: and for once could perhaps a huge silence……. of threatening
ourselves with death.
Fifth stanza
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.

The poet suggests us to take a teaching from nature.

1. As the Earth undergoes changes, in winter, everything freezes, becomes lifeless but
after some time, the season changes again, and everything comes back to life.
2. Similarly, taking a pause and introspecting into our lives will give it a new meaning.
We will be able to understand the purpose of our life. It will be like a re birth of the
soul.
3. The poet has conveyed to all the people the purpose of his message and so, he asks
them once again to take a pause, count till twelve and walks out of the scene,
keeping the scene open for all the people on the Earth to experience this for times
to come.
Question Answers:

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

Ans: If we count up to twelve and keep still, it will give us some time to analyze our
deeds. It will allow us some moments to think about the result of our activities.
People in the world are involved in wars and are also damaging the environment in
order to achieve their aims. Unfortunately, this is taking all of us toward our own
end. So, we need to think in order to achieve peace and harmony.

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

Ans: 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 human beings not to support war and
damage to the environment.

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

Ans: The sadness is the result of our own actions and deeds. According to the poet
we all are in a hurry of achieving various tasks in our life. This rush sometimes
proves dangerous for us. As we don’t analyze our actions, so we land ourselves in
a number of problems. These problems then become the reason for our sadness as
referred to in the poem.

4. What symbol from Nature does the poet invoke to say that there can be life
under apparent stillness?
Ans: The poet takes the example of earth to prove that there can be life under
apparent stillness. The earth never gets inactive. 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; the trees shed their leaves, etc. But as soon
as the spring season comes, it brings with it the lovely flowers, flowing rivers and
a new life is given to the nature. So, the poet wants to convey that we should stay
calm but that doesn’t mean that it will bring total inactivity and stillness.