Poem 3: Keeping Quiet-Notes and Questions & Answers 2020
Keeping Quiet
Extract Based Questions & Answers
VERY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
Q1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: (All India 2009)
Now we will count…………so much.
1. How long does the poet want to stay still?
2. What does he hope to achieve by keeping quiet?
3. What does the poet mean by ‘not move our arms so much’?
Answer:
1. The poet wants to count upto twelve and stay still during the time we are counting to
twelve.
2. By keeping quiet the poet hopes that he will be able to live a fascinating moment and
then realise the value of calm reflection and quiet introspection. The poet believes that
by keeping quiet, we will be able to hear the voice of our conscience in these moments
of silence.
3. Whenever man has used his arms he has caused undue harm to others. So the poet
uses the phrase, ‘not to move our arms so much’ to emphasise the importance of
physical inactivity to lessen destruction caused by man in the world.
Q2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: (Delhi 2010)
Ext 2: It would be an exotic moment………..in a sudden strangeness.
1. Who is the poet speaking to?
2. What would be the moment like?
3. What is the exotic moment the poet Pablo Neruda wishes for? (Delhi 2009)
Answer:
1. The poet is addressing to the mankind who has no time for quiet introspection in its
over-hectic busy life.
2. The moment would be exotic and unusual, a new experience in which mankind will
experience a sense of bonding and togetherness with each other.
3. Pablo Neruda wishes for that exotic moment when mankind will be free from greed,
cruelty, and harmful actions. Unnecessary rush and noise have caused unpleasantness
and troubles. The poet wishes the noise of engines and machines should cease and
peace and tranquillity should prevail.
Question3: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: (Delhi 2012)
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.
1. Why does the poet want us to keep quiet?
2. What does he want us to do for one second?
3. What does he mean by ‘not move our arms’?
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Answer:
1. The poet wants us to keep quiet because this moment of quietness will give us the time to
meditate and introspect upon the kind of turmoil we have created on earth through our ill-
actions. Too much activity and rush has only brought misfortunes to mankind, so it is better to
be quiet and still.
2. The poet wants us to do nothing and remain inactive for one second.
3. The phrase ‘not move our arms’ implies that no physical activity should be carried out for
one second. Man has used his arms only to kill and destroy others. Therefore, let him not
move his arms to harm others.
Question 4: Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow: (Delhi 2013)
Perhaps the Earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.
Now I’ll count upto twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.
1. What does the Earth teach us?
2. What does the poet mean to achieve by counting upto twelve?
3. What is the significance of ‘keeping quiet’?
Answer:
1. The Earth teaches us how to nurture life under apparent quietitude and how to work
silently. It teaches us the importance of sometimes taking a break from all activities.
2. The poet counts up to twelve in an attempt to remain calm and still. He wants to make
mankind realise the futility of their mindless words and actions and encourage people to
introspect for their own good.
3. By keeping quiet and calm man will realise his follies and refrain from harmful destructive
activities. It will also help in creating a feeling of natural understanding and introspection
among human beings.
SHORT ANSWR QUESTIONS:
Question 1: According to the poet, what is it that human beings can learn from Nature?
Answer: Earth can teach a lesson to mankind on the preservation and resurrection of life and
how new life is believed to rise from the ashes of the dead remains. The Earth never attains
total inactivity. Nature remains at work under apparent stillness and keeps the Earth alive.
Life never ceases on earth when everything appears to be dead only one thing remains alive
and that is earth itself.
Question 2: Why is Pablo Neruda against ‘total inactivity’?
Answer: Pablo Neruda is against ‘total inactivity’ because that would amount to death and he
has no association with death. Life is a continuous and on-going process and so is all about
being on the move. Life should not come to a standstill under any circumstance.
Question 3: Which sadness is Pablo Neruda worried about in his poem?
Answer: The sadness that Pablo Neruda is worried about in his poem is the sadness of
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isolation that has made modern man its victim. This sadness has made man self-centered and
uncaring to the needs of his fellowmen. He has sacrificed the needs of his emotional self in
favour of materialism.
Question 4: . How can suspension of activities help?
Answer: Suspension of activities will give us time to introspect and reflect on our follies. It
will give us the much needed time to forget our differences, wither away our discriminations
and enter into a world of peace.
Question 5: How does stopping for a second help us, according to the poet, Pablo Neruda?
Answer: According to Pablo Neruda, when we stop for a second we get an opportunity to
introspect on our follies. During this moment we will forget our differences and experience a
strength of togetherness which will give us a moment of bliss. By indulging in such moments
of inacti-vity, we will realise the harm we are causing to the world with our words and
actions.
Question 6: What is the exotic moment referred to in the poem, ‘Keeping Quiet’? What
makes it exotic?
Answer: When people sit still without speaking any language in quiet introspection, that
moment, according to the poet will be an exotic one because this moment will help us to
experience a strength of togetherness and a strange relationship with which humanity will
bind itself.
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