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KAUTILYA BATCH
Keeping Quiet DPP-04

1. How would keeping quiet affect life in and around Now we will count to twelve
the sea? and we will all keep still.
For once on the face of the Earth
2. ‘Life is what at is about; How is keeping quiet let’s not speak in any language,
related to life? let’s stop for one second,
And not move our arms so much.
3. Why does one feel ‘a sudden strangeness’ on
counting to twelve and keeping quiet? 8. (a) What is the significance of the number
‘twelve’?
4. How will ‘keeping quiet’ protect our environment? (b) Which two activities does the poet want us to stop?
(c) What does the poet mean by ‘let’s not speak in
5. What does the poet want us to tell? any language’?
(d) Describe the pun on the word ‘arms’.
6. What does the poet mean by saying ‘victory with no
survivors’? 9. How does the earth teach us that there is activity
even in apparent stillness?
7. What are the different types of wars mentioned in
the poem? 10. How will ‘keeping quiet’ protect our environment?
OR
What is Neruda’s attitude towards these wars? 11. What does the poem, ‘Keeping Quiet’ teach us?

Hint & Solution
1. It will affect life in and around the sea in two ways.
The fishermen will stop fishing for some time. It
will help the number of the fish to recuperate. The
man gathering salt will get some time to see his hurt
hands get healed.
2. Keeping quiet is related to life not death. The poet
says that by keeping quiet we get some time to
introspect ourselves. Keeping quiet helps us to
recuperate our energy. In this way we can start our
activities with fresh zeal and energy.
3. When we keep quiet for some time and suspend all
our activities for some time, we feel a sort of
strangeness. The reason is that we are always
surrounded by the noise of machines, etc. When
there is no sound, we feel a sort of strangeness.
4. Keeping quiet helps us to stop wars. In this way it
helps to prevent destruction of the environment due
to wars. Also, it prevents deforestation. In this way,
we can say that keeping quiet is the only way to
prevent our environment from all types of pollution.
5. The poet wants us to tell that by keeping quiet and
remaining still for a few moments, we will be able
to do our work in a more effective way. We can
analyse our past actions and not repeat our past
mistakes.
6. According to the poet wars cause a lot of
destruction. A lot of people die from both sides.
Therefore, no one can claim that their side has won,
since the so-called victor also has to face a lot of
causalities.
7. The poet says that there are green wars. He means to
say that the people who destroy forests also wage a
war against their own coming generations. There are
wars with fire, chemical weapons and poisonous
gases. The wars bring so much destruction that no
side could be called victorious. The poet wants that
all these wars should be stopped. These wars bring
nothing but destruction.
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8. (a) There are twelve hours on the face of the clock
and also there are twelve months in a year. The
poet also refers to the number twelve. He wants
us to suspend our activities for twelve seconds.
(b) The poet wants us to stop talking and moving
our arms.
(c) The poet wants us to give a universal message.
He wants that all the people of the world
irrespective of their nationality should suspend
their activities for a few seconds. Not to use
any organ to communicate.
(d) The poet has used the word arms for two
purposes. He wants us to keep still for a few
seconds and not move our arms. The second
meaning of the word arms is weapons. The poet
wants us to stop the use of arms against
anyone.
9. We think that the earth is dead as it remains still.
But many changes are taking place under the surface
of the earth. A seed that seems dead germinates
under the earth and a new life spring from it.
10. When we keep quiet and refrain from activity, we
will not indulge in chemical and nuclear wars that
cause total destruction by releasing toxic gases in
the environment. These will de-story all greenery
and life on earth making it a dead planet.
11. The poem ‘Keeping Quiet’ emphasises the need for
quiet introspection and creating a feeling of mutual
understanding among human beings. It conveys to
us the poet’s philosophy of an exotic moment of
silence which will be an antidote to violence, hatred
and war.