12 English - Keeping Quiet
12 English - Keeping Quiet
12 English - Keeping Quiet
The poet appeals to the reader to take a little time out of their busy
schedules and emphasizes on the need of quiet introspection and
retrospection. It advocates doing nothing for sometime.
The poet urges us to stop for one second and not move our
arms to do any work. He asks us to keep ourselves away from
negative aspects.
Arms also refer to arms and ammunitions that create violence
and disrupts peace and harmony.
Unless right thoughts precede actions, differences and unrest will
continue to prevail and threaten to tear the fabric of society.
Man is a victim of his own doing . Much of the unrest on the
face of the earth is a result of his progressive and forward
nature.
It is a gesture of dictatorship and can be interpreted as his
action to dominate others.
Poetic Device –Pun- Arms
Arms-hands engaged in several activities
Arms-weapons used for destruction.
Let’s-Repetition
To create a bond with the reader and stress his point.
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines
No person would harm any other living being either for food or for
earning his livelihood.
All the people who work endlessly will get sometime to look
at their injuries and the damage they have caused to their
body.
We should walk with all fellow beings like brothers. This change in
perspective will bring about Love and respect for fellow human
beings. He wants us to leave the path of destruction and to be
united.
In the shade (Metaphor) means peace and love toward nature
and without violence.
Just like shade protects from harsh sun, we should protect and
shelter each other as brothers and live in peace and harmony.
What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity
He further clarifies his message does not have any connection with
death. He just wants us to stop for a while and feel the tranquility of a
positive introspection and not to be confused with total inactivity or
death.
He does not want death to interfere in our life before time. It should
come at the end of life lived full and well, without regrets.
If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
All human beings work endlessly with the aim of completing all their
tasks. They are driven by the target of survival and threat of death. So
they are in mad rush to accomplish all their task.
The poet comments on man’s erroneous notion of progress which is
mechanical movement forward.
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
. and of threatening ourselves with death
He says pausing for a while will help appreciate their achievements and their
lives would become happier. By keeping quiet we will be able to understand
the true purpose of our life. Man is treading the path of destruction in the
name of progress.
In his obsession with materialism , he sacrifices his emotional needs. He
wishes that he had allowed the silence of introspection to break the hold that
sadness has over his mind. But his failure to do so brings him closer to the
darkness of despair and death.
Perhaps the earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive
The poet suggest that man should learn from nature. The earth
undergoes change in seasons .In the winter everything freezes
and becomes lifeless but the season changes again and gives
birth to new life.
It appears to be dead on the surface but is actually dormant
and carefully preserving the seeds of life, human beings too
need to keep still and quiet to rejuvenate and awaken the life
forces within and be productive.
Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.