QUEENS’ COLLEGE

GRADE: XII
KEEPING QUIET – PABLO NERUDA

Line 1–2: "Now we will count to twelve / and we will all keep still."
• Value Points: Poet urges silence and stillness for reflection.
• Theme: Need for calmness and pause from chaos.
• Poetic Devices:
o Symbolism – “twelve” may represent months of a year / clock hours → cycle
of time.
o Enjambment.
o Alliteration – will… we, will.
Line 3–4: "For once on the face of the Earth / let’s not speak in any language,"
• Value Points: Silence beyond barriers of race, nationality, language.
• Theme: Universal brotherhood; breaking of artificial divisions.
• Poetic Devices:
o Symbolism – “language” = barriers that divide humanity.
o Enjambment.
Line 5–6: "let’s stop for one second, / and not move our arms so much."
• Value Points: Pause from violence and destructive activities.
• Theme: Peace, harmony.
• Poetic Devices:
o Metaphor – “arms” may symbolise weapons/violence.
o Alliteration – so… much.
Line 7–8: "It would be an exotic moment / without rush, without engines;"
• Value Points: Peaceful stillness unlike noisy, machine-driven life.
• Theme: Harmony between man and nature.
• Poetic Devices:
o Imagery – exotic moment, stillness.
o Repetition – without rush, without engines.
Line 9–10: "we would all be together / in a sudden strangeness."
• Value Points: Shared silence → unity of mankind.
• Theme: Oneness of humanity.
• Poetic Devices:
o Alliteration, Paradox – “sudden strangeness” suggests a new yet pleasant
experience.
Line 11–13: "Fishermen in the cold sea / would not harm whales / and the man
gathering salt would look at his hurt hands."
• Value Points: Example of peace with nature; self-awareness of human suffering.
• Theme: Compassion for environment; self-realisation.
• Poetic Devices:
o Imagery – fishermen, whales, hurt hands.
o Symbolism – whales = endangered species; hurt hands = human suffering
through labour.
Line 14–16: "Those who prepare green wars, / wars with gas, wars with fire, / victory
with no survivors,"
• Value Points: Criticism of wars, destruction of environment and humanity.
• Theme: Futility of violence; call for peace.
• Poetic Devices:
o Repetition – “wars.”
o Irony – “victory with no survivors.”
o Symbolism – “green wars” = ecological destruction.
Line 17–19: "would put on clean clothes / and walk about with their brothers / in the
shade, doing nothing."
• Value Points: Imagery of peace and brotherhood replacing violence.
• Theme: Rebirth of humanity in harmony.
• Poetic Devices:
o Symbolism – “clean clothes” = fresh start, innocence.
o Imagery – walking in shade together.
Line 20–22: "What I want should not be confused / with total inactivity. / Life is what it
is about;"
• Value Points: Poet clarifies he is not promoting death or inactivity.
 • Theme: Balance between action and reflection.
• Poetic Devices:
o Paradox – “not inactivity, but stillness.”
o Didactic tone.
Line 23–24: "I want no truck with death. / If we were not so single-minded"
• Value Points: Poet rejects nihilism; warns against obsession with progress.
• Theme: Value of life, not death.
• Poetic Devices:
o Alliteration – want… with.
Line 25–27: "about keeping our lives moving, / and for once could perhaps a huge
silence / might interrupt this sadness"
• Value Points: Continuous activity causes sadness, war, destruction. Silence could
heal.
• Theme: Reflection brings peace and joy.
• Poetic Devices:
o Personification – “silence might interrupt sadness.”
o Imagery – “huge silence.”
Line 28–29: "of never understanding ourselves / and of threatening ourselves with
death."
• Value Points: Human ignorance and self-destructive behaviour.
• Theme: Need for self-realisation.
• Poetic Devices:
o Paradox – threatening ourselves with death while living.
Line 30–31: "Perhaps the Earth can teach us / as when everything seems dead"
• Value Points: Nature as teacher; lessons from Earth’s cycle.
• Theme: Renewal, rebirth.
• Poetic Devices:
o Symbolism – Earth teaches wisdom.
o Personification: “Perhaps the Earth can teach us”
Line 32–33: "and later proves to be alive."
• Value Points: Like nature’s cycle, life renews after stillness.
 • Theme: Life and hope in silence.
• Poetic Devices:
o Symbolism – resurrection, rebirth.
Line 34–36: "Now I’ll count up to twelve / and you keep quiet and I will go."
• Value Points: Poet concludes by asking for reflection, then leaves.
• Theme: Responsibility lies with mankind.
• Poetic Devices:
o Enjambment.
Overall Themes of the Poem
1. Need for Silence and Introspection.
2. Universal Brotherhood.
3. Peaceful Co-existence with Nature.
4. Rejection of Violence and Wars.
5. Balance between Action and Reflection.
Major Poetic Devices in the Poem
• Symbolism – twelve (time), clean clothes (rebirth), silence (peace).
• Metaphor – arms (violence), green wars (ecological destruction).
• Imagery – fishermen, whales, hurt hands, shade, silence.
• Repetition – wars, without rush, smile-like phrasing.
• Alliteration – will we, wars with, want with.
• Personification – silence might interrupt sadness.
• Paradox – victory with no survivors; stillness is not death.
• Enjambment – frequent continuation across lines.