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Keeping Quiet is poem 2 in the poetry section of Flamingo, the NCERT English Core textbook for Class 12, and it is on the CBSE English Core curriculum for 2026-27. NCERT's note on the poet says Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) is the pen name of Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto, born in Parral, Chile, and that he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.
What is Keeping Quiet about? A summary in plain words
The speaker asks all of us to count to twelve and keep still: for one moment, nobody should speak in any language or move their arms so much.
The pause would be a shared moment “without rush, without engines”. Fishermen would not harm whales. The man gathering salt would look at his hurt hands. Those who prepare wars with gas and fire would put on clean clothes and walk with their brothers in the shade.
Then he heads off a misreading: he does not mean “total inactivity”, and he wants “no truck with death”. NCERT glosses the phrase as refusing to deal with or put up with something. We are simply too single-minded about keeping our lives moving. A huge silence might interrupt the sadness of not understanding ourselves and of threatening ourselves with death.
He ends with the Earth, where everything can seem dead and later prove alive, then counts to twelve again and leaves.
What are the main themes of Keeping Quiet?
Introspection. NCERT's note says the poem is about “the necessity of quiet introspection”.
Mutual understanding. The same note names building mutual understanding among people; in the pause we “would all be together”.
The cost of rush. Constant motion stops us noticing harm, to whales and to our own hands.
Peace over war. Wars with gas and fire end in “victory with no survivors”; stillness turns enemies into brothers.
Stillness is not death. Quiet is not inactivity; the Earth shows life continuing under apparent stillness.
Who are the people in the poem?
The poem has no characters, so read each figure as a symbol.
The speaker: calm and gently persuasive, a guide rather than a preacher. He counts, invites, clarifies, then steps away.
The fishermen: people who harm nature to earn a living; in the pause they would spare the whales.
The man gathering salt: labour that never stops to care for itself. His hurt hands stand for suffering we ignore while we rush.
Those who prepare green wars: the destroyers. “Victory with no survivors” shows war wins nothing; clean clothes and shade suggest even they could change.
The Earth: the teacher. It seems dead and later proves alive.
What questions come from Keeping Quiet in the board exam?
In Section C, the CBSE 2026-27 question paper design for English Core sets one Flamingo poetry extract (a choice of two) for 6 marks, Flamingo prose and poetry short answers of 40-50 words (five of six, 2 marks each), and one Flamingo prose or poetry long answer of 120-150 words (one of two, 5 marks). A Keeping Quiet question is not guaranteed.
Practice questions, built on the four “Think it out” questions in the NCERT chapter:
What will counting up to twelve and keeping still help us achieve? (short)
Does the poet advocate total inactivity and death? (short)
What is the “sadness” the poet refers to? (short)
Which symbol from Nature shows life under apparent stillness? (short)
The stanza beginning “Fishermen in the cold sea”: imagery, tone and meaning. (extract)
Silence can bring understanding and peace. Discuss with reference to the poem. (long)
Here is a worked short answer.
Does the poet advocate total inactivity and death?
No. Neruda says his wish is not the same as doing nothing at all and that he wants “no truck with death”. He asks only for a brief pause from hurried, single-minded activity, so people can look inward, understand one another and stop harming the world.
How should you revise Keeping Quiet in one evening?
Word limits follow the CBSE 2026-27 design; the stillness exercise is NCERT's “Try this out” task in the chapter.
Read the poem aloud once and mark where each stanza changes direction.
Learn four phrases: “without rush, without engines”, “his hurt hands”, “victory with no survivors”, “total inactivity”, and the image of the earth that seems dead and then proves alive.
Answer the four “Think it out” questions in 40-50 words each, with a timer.
Keep still physically and mentally for about five minutes, then write two lines on how your mind changed. That is your own material for a long answer on silence.
Draft one 120-150 word long answer and check it against the themes above.
If English keeps getting squeezed out by physics and chemistry, Fermi's AI tutor can work out what you already know in a science topic and build a plan for the session, so you sit down to a clear next step and keep an evening free for poems like this one.
Now count to twelve, and start with the first stanza.
