Live in peace and brotherhood, and maintaining harmony with nature/earth. The pocm teaches us (all human beings of the world), * Value of keeping quiet and importance of self-introspection Inter-connectedness of human beings Quietness leading to stillness, and peace and calmness in the world To live in peace and brotherhood How to stop destruction and how to brin, g about cessation of wars * To live by maintaining harmony with earth Rhyme Scheme ] Free verse — No thyme scheme Message | “Universal peace and tranquility”Qu Ans. Q5 a6 Ans. Ans. - One feels ‘2 sudden strangeness’ because quiet moments make one aware that excessive self-indulgence ha What will counting up to evelve and Keeping still help us achieve? ane il help us achieve a productive silence which wil give using g | Counting to twelve and keeping . introspection, for evaluating our follies. In such a moment, we can besos eg all ou robe " . i a he S. ‘ill save the world from disa: difficulties. Ie will create an exotic moment of togetherness. Te will ter and yan Ie will give us an opportunity to understand each other and save ourselves from death, What would happen if men on earth did not speak in any language or move their arms so muchy y will prove to be a boon for mankind. All distinctions on the basis of langisy and nationality will disappear. Unnecessary misunderstandings, disputes and debates arising our OF misuse of language will come to an end. There will be peace and harmony all over. What ‘exotic moment’ does the poet refer to? How will men attain it? ; The poet attempts to present to the reader the worth of the moment of silence. He believes it to be ay exotic moment devoid of distracting hurry or noise. It would have the strange power to bring togeth, all humanity; that moment of deliberate silence will be free of violence and shall permit time for sip introspection. What is the poet trying to convey through the images of the ‘fishermen’ and ‘men gathering salt? The poct is highlighting the harm man is causing Nature and to himself in his effort to add comforts tp his life. The fishermen cause harm to the whales and the men at sea hurt their hands in an attempt tp gather salt. ‘Why does one feel ‘a sudden strangeness’ on counting to twelve and keeping quiet? isolated man. The realisation of this disadvantage makes one feel a sudden but unusual strength of human race. ‘What suggestion does the poet give man to avoid the wars? The poet proposes that man should just wear clean clothes and walk around relaxed with his brothers in the shade. These moments of brothethood which man shall experience by adopting a fresh approach, 10 life represented by his clean clothes will put an end to wars that end all parties involved. How are ‘green wars’ harming mankind? The poet refers to wars waged by man against Nature. Man's activities are polluting Nature. The chemical and nuclear weapons created by him threaten to bring mankind to a painful end. The wars waged by man may become a victory of man’s scientific knowledge but would not leave any survivors to celebrate ths victory. ‘What does the poet mean when he says, “J will have no truck with death”? The poet says his desire not to have ‘truck with death’ is an idiom that connotes having nothing to ¢ with the end of life. He wants to live life peacefully and quietly without bothering about any bumps o impediments caused by an integral part of human lives ~ death. It would also help us overcome our ft of death which is inevitable. Do you think the poet, Pablo Neruda advocates total inactivity and death? Why / Why not? No, Neruda does not advocate total inactivity and death, He feels that peace and tranquility should be confused with lethargy. He wants a perceptive silence in which people are not obsessed with appare™ Progress. Nor doing anything, not speaking in any tongue would give mankind an opportunity © introspect and to know how it has been harming itself and the others. Neruda clarifies thae single-mind# indulgence in the rat-race of self-centred goals leading to materialism is unwarranted.B phat s the Sadness’ chat the poet, Pablo Neruda refers coin the pocm, ‘Keeping Quiet? Mo Neruda refers co the sadnes of never understanding oneself he sadness of isolation Being oblivious Ans f consequences, man is working day in and day out in a frenzy of activities; no time for introspection. ties ehreatening himself with death, Today, man has reached a stage where he needs to find the cause of es. Life has, therefore, become all about wars and misunderstanding, How might a huge silence interrupt the sadness of men? GAT poet attempts 10 present the value of a moment of silence. He believes it to be an exotic moment Ans roid of distracting hurry or noise. It would be a moment of immense world peace, universal brotherhood, and love created through introspection and silence. This would help eradicate the sadness of men. (ul? Which symbol from nature does the poet invoke that there can be life under apparent stillness? ins, The poet invokes the symbol of automatic regeneration from Nature/Earth. The Earth is taken as a symbol — “when everything seems dead and later proves to be alive.” Earth seems still but nurtures life under the apparent stillness. For example, a seed that seems dead inside the Earth later germinates as new life inthe spring, Nature is eternal — it creates, reproduces, dies, and regenerates. Thus, human beings can learn from the Earth/Nature to be quiet, still, and grow at our own pace. Life and death go hand in hand, so one should focus on life without worrying about death. Q.13 On what note does the poet conclude the poem, ‘Keeping Quiet? Ans. The poet concludes the poem by reinforcing the serene and pious note on which he began the verse. He leaves the readers in an ecstatic and exotic moment of peace. He once again urges everyone to count to twelve and be quiet so as to enjoy the bliss of silence. Qu4 What does the poem, ‘Keeping Quiet’ teach us ? Ans, The poem, ‘Keeping Quiet’ teaches us the importance of introspection, the interconnectedness of human beings, how quietness leads to stillness, which leads to peace and calmness in the world. It also teaches how to bring about the cessation of wars, to live in harmony with the Earth, and to live in peace and brotherhood. QUS To whom is the poet appealing and what does he want them to do? Ans. The poet is addressing mankind at large, He wants them to stop theit activities for a while, sie quietly and peacefully, and introspect on the effects of their actions. He believes that by following silence, achieve peace and tranquility men can.gn for Silence and stillness in K in ict + xa 2 opting Silence and stillness in ns Qe. It is also the central theme of the poem. According, poets ives, even if it is for j ile, i i it wil ¥ ss mi tn : is for just a while, is essential il oat Mc on ose and he word. Dang his wl pa son F Hein life, fist on a e a meaningful track in fife, first on an nce we start working towards self-actualization, our there will be peace and hi individual iol or for this to. haope peace and harmony among individuals Np aions. However, f to happen, the Silence and stillness which the poet recommends mustn't be jen for absolute inactivity. This moment of calm and rest must be accompanied by deep meditation. fg FCTION J plane and then on a larger societal plane. O: wi ahft from external © internal, AS a resul xs 7 ‘pstvings us co the poems second theme, introspection. It is only through introspection and reflection that we “aatain the perfect Uropian world described in the poem. The poet says that selF introspection and silence do sperake much time tO look within. Any individual can do it and examine oneself. This is easy and takes only ‘shag as it will take someone to count to twelve. During this time of introspection (self-examination), it is stant for the individual to keep quiet. The individual must say nothing at all. Without silence and keeping kt slbintrospection will not work. Silently introspecting will give the individual a strange feeling of unity ‘togetherness with all others. ‘FRoTHERHOOD: inthethood is an important theme of the poem, to which the theme of anti-violence is also linked. Neruda has Sowcued an anti-war attitude in the poem and has branded war as meaningless since it brings the illusion of ‘ang at the very heavy price of human lives. No one really benefits from the war; instead, one brother turns sins another, Neruda wishes for people worldwide to unite in their moment of Silence and stillness. He hopes urdoing so will make humans aware of the values of brotherhood and their religion of humani A duapproving attitude towards utilitarianism is another important theme, Neruda speaks against a very tuetaltc approach to life. According to him, life is about a lor more chan achieving, a certain checklist of puefore death puts an end to us. One can only have a successful life by really understanding oneself, away fom the rat race which we usually attach to our existence.