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The poem “Keeping Quiet” written by Pablo Neruda discusses the need of maintaining peace and silence. He stresses upon being quiet and harmless to the human beings, animals and environment. He suggests that in order to maintain peace and harmony, it is required to stop and introspect ourselves.
Keeping Quiet Explanation
The poet asks everyone to count up to twelve in their mind. The number twelve represents the hours of the day or the months of a year.
He wants all of us to be calm and still.
People across the nations have to unite together, so, they shall not speak their own languages, rather they all shall keep quiet and speak the language of silence.
This will bring unity among all the humans on the face of the Earth.
For at least one moment, no one shall move his arms either to signal, or to fight, or argue with each other.
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.
Literary devices:
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
Second stanza
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 look at his hurt hands
Explanation
When everything will come to a standstill, it will be a rare situation.
No one will be in a rush, there will be no engines running.
Everyone will be calm and quiet, united with each other in a strange atmosphere.
It will be strange because it has never happened earlier.
No person would be harming any other living being either for food or to earn his livelihood.
All the people who work endlessly will get some time to look at their injuries and the damage they have caused to their body.
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.
Literary devices:
Alliteration- ‘we would’ - ‘w’ sound is repeated, ‘sudden strangeness’ - ‘s’ sound is repeated, ‘his hurt hands’ - ‘h’ sound is repeated
Негізгі бет Keeping Quiet |class-12) Flamingo .Part one.
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