Keeping Quiet MCQ Quiz : Keeping Quiet is one of the most thought-provoking and humanistic poems written by Pablo Neruda, the celebrated Chilean poet and Nobel Laureate. Through this poem, Neruda gives a universal message of peace, introspection, and unity. The poem teaches us the value of silence and self-reflection in a world full of noise, speed, and conflict.
The poem begins with a simple suggestion — that we should all keep quiet for a while and count to twelve. This number symbolizes completeness, representing the twelve hours of the clock or twelve months of the year. By asking everyone to stop speaking and moving, the poet imagines a moment of perfect calm where humanity can pause and look inward. Such silence, Neruda believes, can make us realize the futility of wars, greed, and endless activity.
Neruda’s idea of “keeping quiet” does not mean total inactivity or death. It is, in fact, a time to understand life better. He wants people to stop their destructive actions — fishermen killing whales, workers hurting their hands, and nations fighting wars — and instead live in harmony. The poet wishes for a brief but meaningful silence that can bring people closer together in understanding and love.
The poem has eight stanzas of unequal length, written in free verse without a fixed rhyme scheme. Neruda uses several literary devices like enjambment, alliteration, and caesura to create a rhythm of thought rather than sound. His language is simple but deeply symbolic. The tone remains calm, meditative, and hopeful throughout the poem.
In the final lines, Neruda says that after counting to twelve and keeping quiet, he will go, and others will continue with their lives. This shows that silence is not permanent; it is only a pause that helps us return to life with renewed awareness.
Through Keeping Quiet, Pablo Neruda beautifully conveys that peace begins within the human heart. True progress, he suggests, is not in noise or machines but in understanding ourselves and living together in harmony with nature and humanity.
Text of Keeping Quiet
Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still
for once on the face of the earth,
let’s not speak in any language;
let’s stop for a second,
and not move our arms so much.It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines;
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.Fishermen in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would not look at his hurt hands.Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victories with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about…
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.Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.
Keeping Quiet MCQ Quiz
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