NCERT Solutions For Class 12 English Poetry – Keeping Quiet

NCERT Solutions For Class 12 English Poetry – Keeping Quiet, we have covered all the chapter questions. This solution will prove beneficial for students who are preparing for the board and other competitive examinations along with the board exam.All the concepts of programming have been made quite accurate and authentic in this whole solution which will help you to make notes and also increase your interest in financial. Class 12 English Solution Notes is based on the CBSE Class 12 syllabus, which will also prove useful in the board exams and competitive exams.

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NCERT Solutions For Class 12 English Poetry – Keeping Quiet

All the English solutions Class 12 have been prepared by our top subject experts who are completely authentic. All PDF solutions provided by www.studyit.in and we have solved all types of questions 1 mark, short questions and long questions and provide the solutions given below.

Extract Based Questions

I. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

“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 one second,
and not move our arms so much.”

Question 1:
Name the poem and the poet.
Answer:
The poem is Keeping Quiet, and the poet is Pablo Neruda.

Question 2:
How long does the poet want to stay still?
Answer:
The poet urges each one of us to count up to twelve and remain still for one second.

Question 3:
What does he hope to achieve by keeping quiet?
Answer:
The poet hopes that by keeping quiet we will get an opportunity to introspect. The strange stillness will give a feeling of togetherness.

Question 4:
What does the poet mean by ‘not move our arms’ so much?
Answer:
The poet wants us not to move our arms so much because physical activity leads to stopping our introspection. Not moving our arms also suggests stopping all kinds of violence.

II. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

“It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines,
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.”

Question 1:
What would be an‘exotic’moment? Why?
Answer:
The moment of stillness and quietness would be an ‘exotic’ moment. The moment will be ‘exotic’ because it will initiate peace and brotherhood. In the strange moment there would be quietness all around.

Question 2:
How would we feel at that moment?
Answer:
In the strange and exotic moment, we would feel a sense of togetherness. There would be peace and stillness. We together will experience the silent moment.

Question 3:
Point out the words from the extract which mean

1. exciting
2. machines
3. at once

Answer:

1. exotic
2. engines
3. sudden

III. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

“Fishermen in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.”

Question 1:
What does the poet expect of the fishermen and why?
Answer:
The poet expects that, in the moment of stillness, the fishermen will get time to introspect. They would not harm the whales at that time.

Question 2:
What will the man gathering salt do?
Answer:
The man gathering salt will stop for a while and tend to his wounded hands.

Question 3:
What do the ‘hurt hands’ imply?
Answer:
‘Hurt hands’ imply the destruction that humans have caused to themselves and the environment in pursuit of their selfish needs.

Question 4:
What should the fishermen not do?
Answer:
The fishermen should not hurt the whales in the sea.

IV. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

“Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers,
in the shade, doing nothing.”

Question 1:
Name the different kinds of war mentioned in the above lines. What does the poet mean by ‘Green wars?
Answer:
Green wars i.e. wars against nature, wars with poisonous gases and wars with firearms are the different kinds of war. ‘Green wars’ means wars against the environment. Warring nations keep on developing new ‘weapons’ to wage war against the environment.

Question 2:
Explain ‘victory with no survivors’.
Answer:
The poet wants to convey the message that war brings destruction and leaves none to celebrate victory. No one can gain anything by waging wars.

Question 3:
What does the poet want the warmongers to do?
Answer:
The poet wants the warmongers to put on clean clothes, the clean clothes symbolising shedding their evil ways to make peace with their brothers.

V. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

“What I want should not be
confused with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.”

Question 1:
What should not be confused with ‘total inactivity?
Answer:
Stillness and quietness should not be confused with total inactivity.

Question 2:
What is ‘life’ about?
Answer:
‘Life’ is about living it to the fullest. It is not meant for wasting it by sitting idle.

Question 3:
Why does the poet say “I want no truck with death’?
Answer:
The poet clarifies that he wants no association with death. He is advocating stillness and quietness to introspect, not total inactivity or death.

Question 4:
What does the poet not want himself to be?
Answer:
The poet doesn’t want himself to be confused with advocating total inactivity.

VI. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

“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.”

Question 1:
Who does ‘we’refer to in the above lines?
Answer:
“We’ refers to the human beings who are always thinking about their own progress and advancement.

Question 2:
Why does the poet want us to ‘do nothing1 for once?
Answer:
The poet wants us to ‘do nothing’ for once so that our minds can be at peace and we are able to introspect and analyse our own actions.

Question 3:
What is the ‘sadness’ that the poet refers to in the poem?
Answer:
The poet refers to the ‘sadness’ which arises due to the fact that people fail to understand themselves. They have no time to introspect about their actions and their consequences.

Question 4:
How can a huge silence do good to us?
Answer:
A huge silence can do good to us because we are able to achieve peace in this silence. It helps us in analysing ourselves and our actions, interrupting the sadness of threatening ourselves with death.

VII. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

“Perhaps the Earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.
Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go”.

Question 1:
What does the Earth teach us?
Answer:
The Earth teaches us that there is life under apparent stillness. It means that we can still be alive even if we appear to be ‘still’ or ‘calm’.

Question 2:
What does the poet mean to achieve by counting upto twelve?
Answer:
The poet wants to achieve peace by counting upto twelve. He wants us to introspect in a moment of silence.

Question 3:
What is the significance of’keeping quiet?
Answer:
Keeping quiet doesn’t mean keeping mute. It means that we should avoid all such activities which hurt nature and, in turn, harm us.

Question 4:
What is always alive when everything seems dead?
Answer:
Only the Earth is alive when everything else appears to be dead.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1:
‘Life is what it is all about; ‘ How is keeping quiet related to life?
Answer:
Keeping quiet does not mean total inactivity, but stillness and quietness to introspect on what we are
doing. This means stopping our normal day-to-day activities to reflect on our actions. Thus it is related to life, although this may not be visible outwardly.

Question 2:
Why does one feel ‘a sudden strangeness’ on counting to twelve and keeping quiet?
Answer:
Normally people are active and sounds of machines are heard. When we keep quiet and introspect, it will be a strange and unfamiliar moment; thus, we will feel ‘a sudden strangeness’ at this moment.

Question 3:
How will ‘keeping quiet’ protect our environment?
Answer:
Keeping quiet and introspecting will initiate peace and brotherhood among men, halting all destructive activities like waging wars which harm people besides damaging the environment. Thus, the environment will be protected.

Question 4:
What will counting up to twelve and keeping still help us achieve?
Answer:
Counting up to twelve and keeping still will help us to get some time to stop all our normal activities and self-introspect our actions, helping us change our destructive ways and promote brotherhood among men.

Question 5:
What symbol from nature does the poet invoke that there can be life under apparent stillness?
Answer:
The poet uses nature as a symbol to explain his idea that there can be life under apparent stillness. An example from nature is the Earth itself, as, when everything seems dead, it later proves to be alive.

Question 6:
What will possibly be the effect of keeping quiet?
Or
How, according to Neruda, can keeping quiet change our attitude to life?
Answer:
Keeping quiet will help us to introspect on our destructive actions like waging wars or otherwise harming the environment. This will give us a better idea of the consequences of the actions, thus changing our attitude to life.

Question 7:
Which is the exotic moment that the poet refers to in ‘Keeping Quiet?
Answer:
The poet refers to the moment of stillness and quietness as an exotic moment because it will initiate peace and brotherhood. There would be no movement, no talk, no activity and consequently, no violence.

Question 8:
What is the sadness that the poet refers to in the poem ‘Keeping Quiet?
Or
What is the sadness that the poet refers to in the poem?
Answer:
The poet refers to the sadness that arises from the failure to understand ourselves. Today, we are so engrossed in achieving materialistic success that we have no time to introspect about our actions and their consequences. Hence, we often end up hurting ourselves, and this results in sadness.

Question 9:
Which images in the poem ‘Keeping Quiet’show that the poet condemns violence?
Answer:
The images of fishermen not harming the whales in the sea and wars leaving behind no survivors to celebrate victory show that the poet condemns violence. The poet’s refusal to have any association or dealings with death also shows that he is not in favour of any form of violence.

Question 10:
What are the different kinds of wars mentioned in the poem? What is Neruda’s attitude towards these wars?
Answer:
The poet writes about wars against humanity and nature. Green wars, wars with poisonous gases and wars with fire are the kinds of wars mentioned in the poem. Neruda’s attitude towards war is one of rejection. He feels that such wars may bring victory but there are no survivors to celebrate the victory.

Question 11:
How can suspension of activities help?
Answer:
The suspension of activities will give people time to introspect and analyse their actions. This will help them in solving their problems and conflicts. They will develop a new understanding and hence will mend their destructive ways.

Question 12:
Do you think that the poet advocates total inactivity and death?
Answer:
No, the poet does not advocate total inactivity and death. He clarifies that he has no truck with death. According to him, life is meant to be lived to the fullest. He just wants the inhuman and destructive activities to stop.

Question 13:
According to the poet, what is it that human beings can learn from nature?
Answer:
Life under apparent stillness in attitude is the message which human beings can learn from nature.
The Earth is never in a state of total inactivity. Nature continues to breathe and work even when there is stillness all around.

Question 14:
What does the title of the poem suggest to you? What do you think the poem is about?
Answer:
The title of the poem suggests the importance of silence. The poem is about the importance of quiet
introspection for all. Our speech and activities often bring about trouble and suffering, so they need to be controlled.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1:
Analyse the importance of the dramatic count to twelve in ‘Keeping Quiet.’
Answer:
The poem opens with the poet’s appeal to begin with a count to twelve followed by a moment of silence. The poet links silence with hope for a moment of togetherness. The repetition of the poet’s request to count to twelve in the first and the last stanzas creates a personal space of silence in the poem. The poet seeks this moment of silence as a moment to introspect and meditate, to share a feeling of oneness. The poet wishes that in this selected moment, the fishermen would not kill the whales and the men gathering salt would give rest to their injured hands. The threat of destruction of the world would come to a halt. In this chosen moment we would have time for self assessment. The number ‘twelve’ is dramatically significant to represent our clock time, a moment in real life.

Question 2:
How is the poet’s appeal for keeping quiet different from absolute sluggishness ?
Answer:
The poet, in his appeal for keeping quiet, emphasizes the importance of self-introspection in a man’s life. He urges us to seek a moment to understand ourselves and analyse our actions as we experience the sadness of death. The poet’s appeal for a moment of silence or stillness should not be mistaken as a plea, as a moment of inactivity or absolute sluggishness. He seeks a silence where people are not obsessed with work and give a personal moment of time to think about their actions. This moment of silence will help them to overcome their woes and defects. The poet even feels that the Earth will enlighten men in this process, as silence is only a moment captured where there is activity under apparent stillness.

Question 3:
Analyse the poetic devices that the poet adopts in the poem.
Answer:
The poet has incorporated the use of repetition in the line ‘let’s not speak’ and let’s stop for one second’ to create the poetic effect of emphasis on his readers. Even the phrases ‘count to twelve’ and ‘count up to twelve’ are symbolic, as the poet repeats his request to keep quiet for a second time. The word ‘twelve’ symbolizes a measure of time representing our clock time of real life, capturing a moment from our present time. The phrases ‘hurt hands’ and ‘clean clothes’ are examples of alliteration. Man will cleanse his soul, heart and mind in the process. The word ‘brothers’ here implies brotherhood and synecdoche is used by using a concrete object instead of an abstract concept. There is use of metaphor in ‘put on clean clothes’, as the poet wants the warmongers to shed their blood-soiled clothes (meaning, stop wars) and put on fresh clothes (meaning, follow brotherhood).

Value Based Question

Question 1:
What kind of an imaginary and ideal world does the poet visualise?
Answer:
The poet longs for a calm, quiet and peaceful world, devoid of all forms of violence, as he visualises ‘togetherness’ of the people in a moment of silence and tranquillity. According to the poet, this moment will give us time in silence for self-introspection, when we can spiritually attain our moral self through a moment of meditation.
This moment will bring an end to all destructive activities in the world. The fishermen will not be killing whales and the men gathering salt will have time to rest their injured hands. Environmental degradation will come to an end. The warmongers will be silenced in a moment of brotherhood to meditate and cleanse their souls. The poet hopes that it will be an ideal world where man will be able to come out from his self-centred attitude to gain moral peace.

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NCERT English for Class 12 Solutions