Keeping Quiet (1).pptx english class 12 cbse

english class 12 poem

1. Keeping Quiet Pablo Neruda

2. PABLO NERUDA (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973) Chilean poet-diplomat and politician - won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature Pablo Neruda wrote  focusing on all the senses: hear, smell, look, etc . With this he sought the description of a scene or feeling as natural as possible to convey that truth to the reader and make him or her enter his poem or writing.

3. Examples “I won’t belong to anyone else, just you. Until my bones turn to ashes and my heart stops beating." " “Do not do with love what a child does with his balloon; when he has it, he ignores it, and when he loses it, he cries.” “So I wait for you like a lonely house till you will see me again and live in me. Til then my windows ache.” ”I can write the saddest lines tonight. To think I don’t have her. To feel I have lost her. To hear the vast night, vaster without her. The words fall on the soul like dew to the grass.” “Someday, somewhere – anywhere, unfailingly, you’ll find yourself, and that, and only that, can be the happiest or bitterest hour of your life.”

4. CONTEXT 1950s, a time when the world had suffered a dead war. The poet too has experienced the repercussions of war and his appeal for peace shows that he is fed up seeing humans killing each other for power and money. The poet asks us to keep quiet for a while and stop doing the worldly things and instead think about ourselves, our nature and our brothers whom we hate; this way we will be able to build a better world. The poem has been divided into five stanzas.

5. STANZA 1 asks the audience to hold on, stop doing anything and count to twelve and then keep still i.e. silent.  The phrase “count to twelve” is symbolic. It may signify our daily routine or even unity (as clock’s hand unite at 12). The poet is asking us to keep silent. At this moment, we will not speak in any language (because languages create barriers and divide us) and instead, keep silence which is the universal language and thus the uniting factor. In the next line, the poet again says that let us stop for a second and not move our arms i.e. let us leave our work and quest for worldly things and instead keep silence. The first stanza, depicts that the poet is not in the favour of barriers which divide us and even our worldly desires

6. STANZA 2 According to the poet, when we  leave all our worldly affairs aside and remain silent, it will be an exotic (strange) moment as there will be no rush and no engines (i.e., machines). We will all be together in a sudden strangeness which will be the uniting factor (as we all will be silent - universal language). The poet further says that during the moment of stillness, no fisherman would harm any whales in the cold sea i.e., there will be no killing of any animal for our benefits. In addition, the person who gathers salt at seacoast would stop doing his work and instead look at his hands which are hurt and wounded because of excessive work. During this stillness, all of us would wonder why we do  things, and it will surely have some impact on us and our thinking.

7. STANZA 3 In this stanza, the poet talks about war. According to him, all the people who prepare green wars ,wars with gases, wars with fire  and those who have victories with no survivors may put on clean clothes and instead of doing that, walk with their brothers in the shade  and do nothing. Humans do things for selfish reason including deforestation, industrialisation, wars and battles. According to him all these people should stop for a moment and instead of hate, they may preach fraternity and love. The poet makes us understand that he does not mean total inactivity. Instead, he is asking for no more harm to anybody. We have life and we should live instead of fighting.  the poet has experienced the worst effect of world war II and hence he does not want to see the mass deaths and destruction.

8. STANZA 4 If we were not so single-minded (i.e., selfish, greedy and materialistic) about keeping our lives moving  this keep silence for sometimes, it will definitely interrupt  the sadness of never understanding ourselves and of threatening ourselves with death. Our selfishness and materialistic mindset are the root cause of wars, murders, and destruction. This mentality never allows us to understand ourselves. The poet believes that if we keep silence for a moment, we will be able to cure our sadness which is a part of our lives.

9. STANZA 5 The poet takes the example of Earth to make us understand the importance of patience.  Earth can teach us everything because nature is slow and at one instance, it may look dead. However, with patience and perseverance, it proves to be alive. E.g., trees grow so slowly that they may look dead. But with time, they grow huge. In the end, the poet again repeats the first lines. After saying everything, he says that it is the time for action. He asks us to count up to twelve and then keep quiet so that he may go now (as his aim will be accomplished which is changing our mentality).

10. THEME

11. analysis The poet, urges mankind to cease all activity for a little while. During these few moments of silence and inactivity, all human beings would be one, united, and in harmony with each other and nature. This togetherness and oneness is most desirable for the survival of the earth and of human beings. Neruda believes that the soul housed within the human body is capable of performing this feat if given a chance to shine out through introspection, for which absolute silence and stillness is essential.

12. ANALYSIS The poet tries to distinguish between silence and motion.  He states that he is not talking about the complete rest but of the silence and stillness for a particular moment.  He is addressing the fact that the silence can really establish or sprout a meaning to an individual in that spur of stressful and active lifestyle.  The changing times have challenged every individual to lead a depressing life where he wants the individual to devote a moment of silence with the world where “perhaps a huge silence/might interrupt this sadness/of never understanding ourselves/and of threatening ourselves with/death”.

13. LITERARY DEVICES