Keeping Quiet
A. Reference to the Context Questions
1. Now we will count to twelve
And we will all keep still.
For once on the face of Earth
let’s not speak in any language,
let’s stop for one second
and not move our arms so much.
a) What is the poet advocating in the poem?
b) Why does he urge people not to speak in any language?
c) What does the poet mean by ‘not move our arms so much’?
2. It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines,
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.
a) What according to the poet would be an ‘exotic moment’?
b) What do ‘rush’ and ‘engines’ suggest?
c) Explain- ‘sudden strangeness’
3. Fishermen in the cold sea
Would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.
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.
a) What does the poet imply by a salt gatherer looking at his hurt hands?
b) Explain the symbolism used in ‘hurt hands’.
c) What are the different types of wars the poet talks about?
d) Explain – ‘victory with no survivors’.
e) What do ‘clean clothes’ symbolize?
4. 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.
a) What does the expression ‘single-minded’ refer to here?
b) Which sadness is the poet referring to here?
c) How can the huge silence benefit mankind?
d) Why are people threatened by death?
5. Perhaps the Earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.
Now I will count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.
a) Explain the lines- “as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.”
b) What important message can the earth teach us, according to the poet?
c) Why does the poet want to go, leaving the reader all by himself?
B. Short-answer Questions
1. What does the poet want people to do after he counts to twelve?
2. What is the single-mindedness the poet refers to?
3. How will keeping quiet protect the environment?
4. Which images in the poem shows that the poet condemns violence?
5. How is the Earth a source of life when all seems dead on it?
C. Long Answer Questions
1. How is the poet’s appeal for keeping quiet very different from absolute laziness?
2. How can quiet introspection and mutual understanding improve the condition of
the world?
