EXPLANATION

Keeping Quiet

CBSE

The poem was originally written by Pablo Neruda in Spanish but later translated to English. Its
main thrust was the significance of mindfulness, introspection and retrospection as these lead to attention, unity and brotherhood.

Stanza 1
By asking the reader to count to twelve, the poet calls for a time to be tranquil and unmoving. His use of the number twelve could be associated to the clock hours or possibly,
even the number of months in a year. Both attributions however, eectively depict how
our hours and months pass by before us, as we continue to chase after them without so
much as a pause in between.
Stanza 2
Again, the poet reinforces his call not to take a step further, move nor speak. The appeal to
not speak in any language is symbolic of asking people to now speak in one language
silence. This would bring everyone together and lead us to introspection.
In this view, symbolism may also be seen in the use of the phrase, move our arms so
much which in this context, if taken lightly can be considered as merely brisk walking,
but could also be signifying violence or our selfish pursuits. It is to be noted as well how
the poet mentions once and one second in this stanza. The appeal is set on the premise
that humans are constantly speaking and constantly moving- again, a reinforcement of his
earlier hedge on the lack of time to be still and introspective.
Stanza 3
Here, the poet introduces the impact of such behavior. The poet then proceeds to ask the
reader to ponder, consider and bask on the glory of this rare occurrence: where the usual
flurry of diverse human activity is now silenced to a standstill and in surprising unity. As
humans are perceived to be unique in their own ways and possess free will, a complied de1

liberate silence of all shall create this mysterious yet wonderfully unusual unanimity.
Stanza 4
Here, the poem develops by providing what ensues through this quietness. The poet shows
how because of this, humans would now have more time to think about their actions and
how they would have the time to notice the details that surround their daily lives. Knowing the power they have over nature but also being aware of where they stand, humans
now demonstrate their free will not to harm nature. Mentioning about the man gathering
salt who notices that his very hands are hurt displays the result of retrospection.
Stanza 5
In this part, the poet references wars and those that participate in it, to drive his point
home. Because there is now a time to breathe in and out, without being required to do
what is usually done, or blindly follow orders, there will also be time for introspection.
And through this, humans are now able to see how in a war, there really are no winners.
This is where he continues to show the critical impact of allowing time for introspection: a
conscious eort not to contribute or be part of dissension. Another symbolism can be
spotted when the poet mentions put on clean clothes. This is not just to emphasize how
with war, there is the shedding of blood, but rather the very act of putting on new clothes
can be seen as taking on a dierent role, a dierent persona, and basically having a dierent take on the matter at hand.
Stanza 6
The poet then divulges to clarify that his plea for stillness, for a moments pause, is not to
be mistaken for the mere act of doing nothing or death. He mentions to truly look at life
as it is: which is of living while experiencing the beauty of quietness and the moments that
go through it. Note how he used no truck with which is an idiom meant to connote not
having association with. The poet considers going through the hustle and bustle of life
without pausing, as death.
The poet then proceeds to give the reader a conditional statement to allow him to consider
what would happen if humans had not been slaves to time, routine and habit. He presents
the bearing this unforeseen single iota of change, rubbing o on the majority of people,
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would ultimately result to a much needed introspection. The poet further injects irony
when he mentions death in this stanza again as he goes to show how humans are terrified of eventually dying. This, while not noticing that the life they are actually living is
merely existing, without truly being aware of what they are doing and becoming. Also, the
poet asks us to learn from earth which seems to be still when seen from far away but is
burstling with life with all the flora and fauna within.
Stanza 7
Having presented the dilemma, the poet eectively passes the baton to the reader and has
now given him the power and the choice to be still and begin his own introspection and
retrospection. As with the central idea of his poem, the call to pause and be mindful of
ones own self and ways, resonates to the very conclusion of the poem.