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About the Poet: Columbian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez called Pablo Neuda, the greatest poet of the, 20th century of any language. Pablo Neruda always wrote with green ink which according to him was the, colour of hope. He appeals to readers to take some time out of their busy lives for introspection and, retrospection. The aim is to return to our routines with renewed vigour and awareness of ourselves and our, actions., , Theme: In this deceptively simple poem, the poet has emphasized the need to introspect and bring in the, spirit of brotherhood among the people of the world., , Values: Introspection, retrospection, universal brotherhood, sensitivity to the environment, peace, empathy., unity etc., the, celebrates, necessity of quiet introspection and silence, This moment of silence will act as an antidote to war, violence, hatred, exploitation and turmoil. By keeping, , appropriate as, , Title: The tile is very, , quiet, mankind can try, , to, , the poem, , understand itself and stop harming himself and others with death and destruction., , Understanding the Poem: Neruda begins by asking everyone to count to rwelve and keep stl. These, twelve seconds would help everyone calm themselves and relax and be ready to begin introspection or, , retrospection., , He wants, , people, , to break, , the barriers of communication and, , speak, , no, , language, , at, , all for, , a, , few minutes. These moments of silence would be unique and enticing because in our mundane life. we are, , constantly working, , towards selfish, , goals, , and, , never, , take the time to reflect. This sudden silence would, , give, , Since we, opportunity to introspect and unite humanity. We would all perform this activity together., brotherhood would, would not speak for a while, barriers between communities would break and a sense of, us an, , prevail., , Man would get an opportunity to realize how he is destroying nature and harming himself in the process., a cold reception. The man who, The fishermen that harm aquatic life would realize how nature brings them, his hands rough. In this silence, gathers salt from the s e a would realize that nature retaliates by turning, of unity would be experienced., futile wars against men and nature would be arrested and a new feeling, for once, shed their old attire, Those who plan and implement bio warfare and nuclear weaponry should,, to walk among their fellow men. They must use, (profession and preoccupations) and put on clean clothes, to achieve a fruitless victory. Such a, this time to truly witness what they would destroy with their attempts, would be emotionally dead and, win leaves no survivors because even if they were physically alive, they, , eventually, mankind will perish., does not want, of scientific knowledge but there will be no survivors left. The poet, and, accepts life as, uselessness or death. He knows, his desire for inactivity to be misunderstood as a state of, attitudes. He says he does not begrudge death or, it is. He accepts the rush, the noise and even the belligerent, he wants is, to be like dead, doing nothing. forever. All, want anything to do with it. He does not want people, from their busy lives for themselves and for the natural, that everyone should take out just a few moments, , The, , war, , will be, , a, , victory, , world around them.

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He feels that if men were not so determined to keep lives moving all the time, the ensuing silence would, interrupt sadness that has become so much a part of us that we do not even notice it. This sadness comes, from not knowing oneself and always trying to achieve everything possible at the earliest, out of an illogical, , fear of impending death., He wants men to learn a lesson from the Earth. The Earth appears to be inactive yet it is constantly and, , selflessly productive. The natural world seems omnipresent without being ostentatious and hence, is taken, , for granted. After the cold inactive unproductive winter, spring arrives with bounty and vivacity. Men too, could be productive and progressive without any aggression, selfishness and the urge for destruction. They, could care for nature as it cares for them. They could, after eons of selfish actions, bring back a degree of, , nobility, thoughtful attitudes and universal brotherhood., , Explanations:, Now we will count.... all keep still: The poet through this expression commences the session of, introspection and meditation. The poet feels that if for once we will keep quiet and still, it will provide us an, opportunity to introspect on our follies. Twelve is indicative of the twelve signs to measure hours on the, clock., , For once . . . Our arms so much: Language breeds discrimination, and linguistic chauvinism breeds, domination and racial prejudice. The poet feels that if for some time no one spoke on the face of the Earth,, all this misunderstanding and mistrust will wither away in the depth of silence., Man is a victim of his own doing. Much of the unrest faced in the world is a repercussion of man's so-called, progressive activities. Therefore if man's activities come to a standstill for a while and if man stops moving, his ams too much, peace and tranquillity will prevail in the world, , It would be an exotic... sudden strangeness: This moment of silence, according to Pablo Neruda, would be a moment of immense world peace, universal brotherhood and love that will be created through, introspection and silence. n the modern competitive world there is a rat-race to outshine others. The phrases, without rush, without engines' are symbolic of the humdrum of modern life. Life can be peaceful only if, , this thoughtless advancement is stopped. This exotic moment of silence will help build a sudden and strange, , feling of universal brotherhood. This feeling of togetherness is new and inexplicable. I, , will urn out, , to, , be, , a, , blessing for mankind., , Fishermen in the cold ...his hurt hands: This moment of quietude will help man realize the harm he, has been causing to others and to himself. The fishermen are symbolic of man's indiscriminate exploitation, , of nature for his vested interests. And when fishemen do not harm the whales they will no longer be on the, , verge of extinction. The men, who gather salt, have no time to reflect on the pain they are causing to their, hands and to themselves. In his efforts to add comforts to his life man has paid little heed to the pain he has, been causing himself., , Those who prepare.doing nothing: The word 'those refers to the politicians, statesmen and the, scientists who are involved in initiating and aggravating wars. The wars that are waged by man include wars, and the chemical and nuclear weapons created by man which, Nature which is caused, , by pollution, , against, , have caused his, , own, , annihilation. The, , war, , which, , man, , is, , waging against, , Nature will, , one, , day, , convert this, , iving planet' into a dead one and humans themselves will become an extinct species. The result of the war, may be indicative of man's achievement and scientific, celebrate this victory., , knowledge,, , but there would be, , no, , survivors, , to

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Men would put on clean clothes and for some time would, reflect inwardly realizing the strength of humanity, and also become conscious of universal, brotherhood. His destructive activities will come to a standstill and, this will provide a, healing touch for mankind., What I, , want....truck with death: The poet clarifies, , to the readers that he does not want 'total, this he implies a phase of, when no activity will take, complete, place on the face of, the earth. This is not what he advocates. What he stagnation, wants man to do is to stop all his destructive activities for, a, while and analyse their consequences and not become inactive and, life, to, a, standstill. Man should, bring, continue with his positive an d constructive activities that are, for the betterment of mankind., , inactivity'. By, , Lie is, , on-going process and we need to be a part of the flow. If we stagnate than it would not be worth, phrase "want no truck with death' means that he refuses to associate with death or would not, bring life to a dead end by such inactivity., living., , an, , The, , Ifwe were, , not so..., , ourselves with death: Man has become, , single-, , minded that he is concerned, heed, to the pros and cons of, stopped pay, this reckless, progress and moves ahead without any thought about the consequences. His selfish nature is, worried about keeping 'our lives moving', which means that man leads a, mechanized and busy life. Man, in, his race towards materialism has sacrificed the, fulfilment of his emotional needs and thus has become sad, and isolated. The, psychological problems faced by man are because he has not cared to satisfy his emotional, needs. He has failed to even realize that his, unthinking progress has brought him on the verge of extinction., The huge silence that results out of this, Neruda will interrupt this sadness, introspection advocated, making man understand the need for peace and harmony in this world.by, about the, , only, , scientific progress and advancement. He has, , not, , so, , to, , Perhaps the Earth ....keep quiet and I will go: The Earth can teach us the lesson of, preserving and, resurrecting life. Shelley clearly points out in his Ode to the West Wind' that the West Wind, is both a, preserver and destroyer. It preserves the dead seeds in their dark, beds, till, wintry, spring comes and conducive, weather conditions help the seeds to, procreate new life. Pablo Neruda also emphasizes the same point in, these few lines. The things which, apparently seem dead in Nature prove to be alive later., The, , counting, , will createe, , a, , is then, , a, , part of meditation, , rejuvenation, , meditator in silence., , of, , thoughts, , asking, , and, , a, , man to, , experience, , transition of, , our, , those exotic moments of silence which, departs leaving the, , mind-set. He himself, , Read the extracts and answer the questions that follow:, 1., , Now we will count to twelve, and we will all keep still., For, , let's, let's, , the face of the Earth, not speak in any language,, , once on, , stop for, , one, , second,, , and not move our arms so much., , a), , What does 'count to twelve', , b), c), , How would, , Why does, , 2., , It would be, , imply?, humanity benefit if people did, , the poet ask men to, , an exotic moment, without rush, without engines,, , would all be, , we, , in, , a, , sudden, , together, strangeness., , not, , speak in any language?, , stop all movement?

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moment'"?, , a), , b), c), , 3., , What does he mean by 'exotic, exotic moment?, How could man achieve this, , Explain:, , 'without, , Fishermen in, , rush, without engines., , the cold, , sea, , Would not harm whales, And the, , man, , gathering salt, , Would look at his hurt hands., , of?, a) What are fishermen symbolic, in these, b) What message does the poet convey, , image does, , the poet, , create, , lines?, , in the last line?, , c), , What, , 4., , 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., a), b), c), , What are the kinds of wars mentioned in the above lines?, What are green wars?, How would the wars affect our lives?, , d) What could be the ideal situation?, , 5., , Perhaps the Earth can teach us, as when everything seems dead, and later proves to be alive., , Now 'll count up to twelve, and you keep quiet and I will go., , a), b), , What can the Earth teach us?, How does the Earth 'prove to be alive'?, , c), , Explain: 'you keep quiet and I will go'., , Answer the following in about 30-40 words., 1. What is the significance of 'twelve' in the context of this poem?, What is the sadness referred to in the poem?, , 2., , 3. What hamm do the fishermen do and why do the salt gatherers hands hurt?, , 4. Howisinactivity diferent from death? what does the poet mean by "to have no truck with death'?, 5. What are we single-minded about?, 6. What symbol from nature does the, poet use to prove that keeping, 7. Do you think the poet advocates total, inactivity and death?, 8. What is the poet's appeal to the, people?, , quiet, , is, , not, , total, , inactivity?