Introduction to
the poem
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.
Keeping Quiet Summary
“Keeping Quiet” is a peace poem written by the
Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. The poet asks humanity to count numbers from one to
twelve - twelve being the number of hours shown in a clock or the number of
zodiac signs. He requests everyone not to speak because languages create
barriers between people. The moment when everyone stops moving their body will
be very special and different as we have never experienced such a moment
before.
The poet says that in this
period of inactivity the fishermen would not harm the whales, the salt
gatherers will not hurt their hands, those who are busy destroying the nature
will adopt a new approach towards life, The men who are preparing for wars and
victory based on deaths of innocent people will join their enemy and stand in
unity with them, doing nothing. No one will harm himself or any other person.
Everyone will unite and ponder upon his acts and realize the results of his
deeds.
The poet clarifies his
idea and says further that he does not want that people should stand idle. He
wants that there should be no war because he does not want to see trucks laden
with dead bodies of the soldiers. He is promoting Universal brotherhood and
peace.
The poet says that everyone is working
continuously, to achieve one’s goals. People are threatened by death and the
fear forces them to work endlessly so that they can achieve everything quickly.
In this mad rush, they do not realize the repercussions of their acts. He wants
us to pause and come out of the mad rush. He wants us to be happy about our achievements
and celebrate them. He wants us to overcome the fear of death and to relax for
a while. We should know the results of our deeds and celebrate our
achievements.
When the people will remain quiet
for a while, they will realize the purpose of their lives. Just like all the
creations of nature undergo a rebirth with the change of seasons, similarly,
keeping quiet will be a rebirth for the human soul. It will give a new meaning
to our life. Again, the poet says that he will count till twelve and asks
everyone to remain quiet while he leaves.
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