Keeping Quiet by Pablo Neruda - Explanation
The poem "Keeping Quiet" is written by Pablo Neruda, a Nobel laureate author. In this poem, he conveys the message of mindful introspection and asks his readers to avoid to maintain stillness and avoid hasty life.
The poem begins with the poet calling for counting will twelve after which stillness is attained for some time. During this time of introspection, he urges his readers to stop speaking in any worldly language and stop our mental and physical movements for that moment.
Everyone would cherish the moment because there would be no hastiness and no one would run in a hurry. This soothing activity would unite all of us because then we would have the time to understand ourselves and others. The word "engine" symbolises the way of the modern fast moving world.
To support his claim, Neruda gives instances of fishermen and salt-gatherer. In the moment of silence, fishermen would not harm any living sea creature like a whale. The salt-gatherer would deliberately look at his hurt hands due to perpetual working in salt.
Neruda envisages the people, who earlier provoke and promote all types of war - chemical, biological and armed wars and never stopped until no survivor left alive, would leave all blood-shed and hatred and dress clean clothes and walk with their brothers in the shade. They would choose to do nothing.
He clarifies that he doesn't want to endorse "total inactivity", life is all about activity and movement. But this life which moves quite fast prevents us from understanding ourselves and moving beyond the fear of death. He gives a remedy of all above things - a huge silence.
His wants us to know that when we are silent and doing nothing, we can think and introspect about our own selves and improve ourselves.
He gives the instance of the earth which sometimes seem dead or inactive but later it emerges as having full of life. We can take another example of night during which everything is silent and very little activity can be seen. But morning, which signifies the beginning of activity, succeeds darkness.
The poet would count up to twelve and asks us to keep quiet and he would leave silently.
The poem begins with the poet calling for counting will twelve after which stillness is attained for some time. During this time of introspection, he urges his readers to stop speaking in any worldly language and stop our mental and physical movements for that moment.
Everyone would cherish the moment because there would be no hastiness and no one would run in a hurry. This soothing activity would unite all of us because then we would have the time to understand ourselves and others. The word "engine" symbolises the way of the modern fast moving world.
To support his claim, Neruda gives instances of fishermen and salt-gatherer. In the moment of silence, fishermen would not harm any living sea creature like a whale. The salt-gatherer would deliberately look at his hurt hands due to perpetual working in salt.
Neruda envisages the people, who earlier provoke and promote all types of war - chemical, biological and armed wars and never stopped until no survivor left alive, would leave all blood-shed and hatred and dress clean clothes and walk with their brothers in the shade. They would choose to do nothing.
He clarifies that he doesn't want to endorse "total inactivity", life is all about activity and movement. But this life which moves quite fast prevents us from understanding ourselves and moving beyond the fear of death. He gives a remedy of all above things - a huge silence.
His wants us to know that when we are silent and doing nothing, we can think and introspect about our own selves and improve ourselves.
He gives the instance of the earth which sometimes seem dead or inactive but later it emerges as having full of life. We can take another example of night during which everything is silent and very little activity can be seen. But morning, which signifies the beginning of activity, succeeds darkness.
The poet would count up to twelve and asks us to keep quiet and he would leave silently.