Keeping Quiet Class 12 | Pablo Neruda | Poem 3 | Flamingo |

Keeping Quiet Class 12 | Poem 3 | Flamingo | Class 12 |

Summary of Keeping Quiet

Keeping Quiet Class 12 by Pablo Neruda is all about the importance of staying calm and composed. Here, Pablo Neruda (Poet) wants people to keep quiet for some time so that they can introspect themselves during the time of introspection and realize what is wrong and what is right for them. He begins this poem with a request to people for leaving all the work and for staying out of rush and chaos for some time. He picks up a couple of example to make us understand the significance of the poem.

At first, he talks about a fisherman who has forgotten that killing innocent whales and fish can lead to extinction of such species which is one of the four principal biological system. Besides, he picks up an example of a man whose job is to pick up the salt for survival of his family but at the cost of his hands which are rotting away day by day. Poet advises them to take care of others as well as themselves while working.

In next few stanzas, poet talks of the wars created by people themselves to show their supremacy over others. According to him, the man has got so advanced that he can kill his own ones in a matter of seconds. He names couple of wars as well such as; green wars, wars with nuclear gases and weapons which lead to victory but along with the destruction. He urges people to keep calm for some time before doing anything. In this way, a human can realize that all, whom he is fighting with, are his own ones not others.

In next stanza, he sheds light on the attitude of the people which is full of self-centeredness. According to him, human is the only creature of this world who can kill or harm his own people just for the sake of his own profits. As per his words, human has forgotten that he has to die one day or the other yet he remains afraid of it even it being a reality. The poet pleads people to keep quiet if they want peace to prevail on this earth. Besides, he holds human responsible for their misery and pain.

In the last stanza, poet wants us to learn the importance of keeping quiet from the earth which remains quiet peaceful and dead from outside but has a life beneath. He also requests people to pass on this message to others as he has done in this poem. Only, in this way, peace can prevail on our earth.

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Short Answer Type Questions of Keeping Quiet

Q1. What will counting up to twelve help men to achieve?

Ans. Counting up to twelve refers to the time given by the poet to readers to commence the process of keeping quiet. After this, human can start introspecting himself in order to know the difference between right things and wrong things.

Q2. Does the poet advocate total inactivity in this poem?

Ans. No, the poet does not advocate total inactivity in this poem. He, rather wants to people to engage in their respective work but not at the cost of his mother earth and other natural resources which are depleting because of him. According to him, total inactivity is a sheer wastage of time which makes human a devil.

Q3. What symbol from the nature does the poet pick to explain the importance of keeping quiet? Why?

Ans. The poet takes the example of mother earth to explain the importance of keeping quiet. According to him, earth is the only symbol of nature that remains quiet from the surface all the time, though there is a life beneath. It also teaches us that “Silence is best” and encourages us to keep quiet for the prevalence of peace on this earth.

Q4. What are the fisherman and the man gathering salt symbolic of?

Ans. The fisherman and the man gathering salt are symbolic of the destruction created by humans on their mother earth. According to the poet, people of this world have been so selfish that they can go to any extent in order to have personal gains. Therefore, he advises both of them to take care of others along with their growth.

Q5. Which sadness does the poet talk about in this poem?

Ans. According to the poet, human has made him depressed and sad himself. His misdeeds, which he frequently does with the mother earth and other creatures, have made him feared of death. He can only get rid of this nuisance if he protects all the biological systems as well as this nature.

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