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CBSE Class 12th English Chapter 3 - Keeping Quiet: CBSE Class 12th English Chapter 3 includes a poem - “Keeping Quiet” by Pablo Neruda. In the poem, the poet discusses maintaining peace and silence. He talks about humanity and brotherhood. He requests people to take a pause and realize the purpose of their lives. He suggests living a harmless life and being quiet in the poem. To maintain peace and harmony is his aim.
In the beginning of the poem, he asks everyone to count numbers from one to twelve, which represent the zodiac signs. He requests people to be quiet as languages become barriers between people. He describes how beautiful it is when everything is at rest. During this period, the fishermen would not harm the whales, the man gathering salt would not hurt their hands, the ones planning war and victory would start believing and practicing peace. They will learn to unite and live with a positive approach. Meanwhile, they will get the time to think about their acts and the consequences of them.
Neruda explicates his idea and distinguishes it from inactivity. He opposes war to ensure there is no death of soldiers. He does not want to witness trucks loaded with bodies of the soldiers. He focuses on understanding the real meaning of life. According to him, everyone is a part of the unsaid race to achieve everything. In the process of achieving goals, all of us forget to celebrate the achievements. Everyone is behaving under the pressure of death. It has become a mad rush to achieve everything, which keeps everybody moving, without thinking of the outcome. The poet raises a voice to make people aware about what they are doing and what is really necessary. He emphasizes on overcoming the fear of death and taking a pause.
The poet brings attention towards nature, which undergoes a rebirth with the change of seasons. Similarly, humans should learn from nature. Taking a break will be an opportunity for them to revive themselves, which will provide a new meaning to their lives. At the end, the poet counts till twelve and asks everyone to remain quiet.
From the poem, students can expect questions like How is counting upto twelve important? What will it help us in achieving? They can also get a question related to the ‘sadness’ that is referred to in the poem, or How does he relate Nature to Humans? What can they learn from nature?
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