Keeping Quiet (Flamingo)

Explanation
Stanza 1
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 an 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.

Stanza 2
Poet says that it would be a rare situation when there will be no engines working. Here
he wants to stay 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.

Stanza 3
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.
Stanza 4
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.

Stanza 5
So, now the poet suggests to the human beings that we should learn a lesson from Earth.
During the winters everything freezes and becomes lifeless. But when season changes
and it’s the onset of spring season, everything present in the nature such as the trees,
birds, rivers, etc. gets life. So here, the poet, by giving the example of nature, wants to say
that all the human beings should stop and try to judge their deeds. They can try and make
their life better with calmness, peace. Finally, he ends up by saying that now he will count
upto twelve so that we all may become quiet. Here 'quiet' means to calm down ourselves
and move towards the path of peace and harmony. After saying this he says 'I will go'. He
says so as he has conveyed his message to the people and wants them to be left alone to
think about it and work in the direction of peace.
Figure of speech
Stanza 1
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

Literary devices:
Alliteration: 'we would' - 'w' sound is repeated,
'sudden strangeness' - 's' sound is repeated,
'his hurt hands' - 'h' sound is repeated

Stanza 3
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'

Stanza 4
Alliteration: we were, so single-minded
Enjambment: and for once could perhaps a huge silence........of threatening ourselves
with death.

Stanza 5
Personification: The earth is represented as human being. So it is an example of
personification.
 Reference to the context
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

1. “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 (Compartment 2014 Modified)
(a) Whom does ‘we’ refer to in the above lines?
‘We’ refers to the human beings, who are always thinking about their own progress and
advancement.
(b) Why does the poet want us to ‘do nothing’ for once?
The poet wants us to ‘do nothing’ for once so that our mind can be at peace and we are
able to introspect and analyse our own actions.
(c) What is the ‘sadness ’that the poet refers to in the poem?
The poet refers to the ‘sadness’ which arises due to the fact that people fail to understand
themselves. They have no time to introspect about their actions and their consequences.
(d) How can a huge silence do good to us?
A huge silence can do good to us because we are able to achieve peace in this silence. It
helps us in analysing ourselves and our actions, interrupting the sadness of threatening
ourselves with death.

2. 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.
(a) What does the Earth teach us?
The Earth teaches us how new life springs from dead remains, and how there is life under
apparent stillness.
(b) What does the poet mean to achieve by counting upto twelve?
OR
Why does the poet count upto twelve?
The poet wants to achieve peace by counting upto twelve. He wants us to introspect in a
moment of silence.
(c) What is the significance of ’keeping quiet’? (All India 2013; Modified)
OR
What will be keeping quiet help us achieve? (Delhi 2008 Modified)
Keeping quiet doesn’t mean just not speaking. It means that we should avoid all activities
which hurt nature and, in turn, hurt us.
(d) What is always alive, even when everything seems to be dead?
OR
How does the Earth teach us that there is activity even in apparent stillness?
The Earth is always alive, even when everything else seems to be dead. There is always
some activity going on in nature beneath its apparent stillness.

3. For once on the face of the Earth

let’s not speak in any language,
let’s stop for one second,
arid not move our arms so much.
(a) Why does the poet want us to keep quiet?
The poet wants us to keep quiet in the hope that the moment of tranquillity might help us
in finding the answers to our problems.
(b) What does he want us to do for one second?
The poet wants us to be silent and motionless for one second.
(c) What does he mean by “not move our arms”? (Delhi 2012; Modified)
The poet means that we should be in a state of total stillness with no physical activity at
all.
(d) How can this moment of stillness help us?
This moment of stillness can provide us physical and mental rest, during which our mind
will be at peace. We can analyse our actions and their consequences and avoid rash or
thoughtless behaviour.
4. Fishermen in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.

(a) What does the poet expect of the fishermen and why?
In the exotic moment of silence and introspection, fishermen will become conscious the
fact that they are causing harm to the whales. The poet expects this because he feels that
at this opportune moment all evil will come to an end.

(b) While gathering salt, what will the man do?

The man gathering salt will stop for a while at that quiet moment and look at his hurt
hands.

(c) What do the hurt hands imply? (All India 2008; Modified)
‘Hurt hands’ means that human beings are oblivious of the pain they are causing to
themselves in the pursuit of amassing more and more comforts. They have no time for
themselves.

(d) How would man and nature benefit in this moment of silence?
In this moment of silence, man will not harm nature, and both human beings and nature
will get some time to attend to and recover from their wounds.

Short Questions
1) What is the exotic moment the poet Pablo Neruda wishes for? (Comptt. All India
2011)
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.
2) Which sadness is Pablo Neruda referring to? (Comptt. Delhi 2013)
The sadness that the poet refers to in the poem ‘Keeping Quiet’ is the sadness of never
understanding oneself and nature. Human beings in a frenzy of activities, have no time
for introspection and thus threaten themselves with death or destruction. This darkens
their ways with distress and wretchedness.
3) How, according to Neruda, can keeping quiet change our attitude to life? (Comptt.
Delhi 2015)
According to Neruda, when people on earth think of keeping quiet for sometime, that will
be an exotic moment when they will be able to forget their differences and a feeling of
brotherhood will prevail among them. Most of the evil thoughts disappear when man
becomes silent for a while. By keeping quiet, man will realize his follies and refrain from
harmful and destructive activities.

4) Life is what it is all about;’ How is keeping quiet related to life? (All India 2015)
The poet advocates keeping quiet and inactivity but he does not want these to be confused
with death. Life is an ongoing and continuous process, so it should not come to a standstill
under any circumstances. People pursue their goals single-mindedly and their lives keep
on moving.

5) Why does one feel ‘a sudden strangeness’ on counting to twelve and keeping quiet?
(All India 2015)
One feels ‘a sudden strangeness’ on counting to twelve and keeping quiet because this is
an exotic moment which builds a sudden and strange feeling of universal brotherhood.
This feeling of togetherness and brotherhood is rather new and inexplicable.

6) What are the different kinds of wars mentioned in the poem? What is Neruda’s
attitude towards these wars?
Green wars – cutting the trees, war with environment; war with gas—chemical or
nuclear; war with fire, and war with ammunition. Every type of war is useless and must
be given up. Whenever there is victory after a war, there are no survivors. War is only
destructive.

7) How can suspension of activities help?

The poet believes that suspension of activities will allow men to introspect, which can
help them by solving many of the problems based on caste, religion and nationality.

8) What is ‘the fisherman’ symbolic of?

The fisherman symbolises man’s indiscriminate exploitation of nature for his vested
interests.

9) How will ‘keeping quiet’ protect our environment?

Keeping quiet will stop man’s indiscriminate exploitation of nature for his vested
interests. In this moment of inactivity, fishermen will not harm the whales.
10) How would keeping quiet affect life in and around the sea?
Keeping quiet will prevent sea life from being harmed and the person collecting salt
would look at his hurt hands. It will thus, help in maintaining an ecological balance and
give everyone some time to introspect.

11) What are green wars? Who wage them and with what result?
Green wars mean war against environment or environmental degradation. It is waged by
the people who exploit the nature for commercial use and the soldiers. It results in
damage to the environment and ultimately harming humans.

12) How is the earth a source of life when all seems dead on it?
The seeds that lie dormant throughout winter germinate or spring to life with the arrival
of spring. It appears as if nature is celebrating life.

13) Why does one feel ‘a sudden strangeness’ on counting to twelve and keeping quiet?
The absence of hustle and bustle of life would create feeling of peace and quietness, which
would make us united in our natural commitment. It will create a strange feeling of
universal brotherhood.

14) What does the poet say about fishermen and people gathering salt?
According to the poet fishermen cause damage to Nature by killing whales. On the other
hand, people gathering salt cause damage to their hands. However, in the moment of
quietude both think about the damage they usually and more importantly, thoughtlessly
do.

15) How does Neruda use earth as a symbol?

According to Neruda the earth symbolises the fact that there can be life under apparent
stillness and that thoughtful activity is a gateway to perfect creation. It is through this
symbolic idea that Neruda justifies the necessity of “keeping quiet” on the part of human
beings.

16) Why does the poet use the phrase “victory with no survivors”?
The phrase refers to green wars in which not only Nature but also human beings are
affected. While the fire burns human beings, the gas kills the survivors. That is why the
poet uses the phrase “victory with no survivors”.