Keeping Quiet Summary In English
The poet wants us to keep still till he counts upto twelve. For once, let us not talk in any language on this earth. He asks us to stop moving our arms so much for one second.
Let there be no rush or hurry for a second. Engines and other machines must stop for a moment. That moment will be a fascinating moment for all of us. Then all of us shall enjoy the sudden strangeness of the moment together.
The poet wants that the fishermen would not harm the whales in the cold sea of polar regions. Even the man gathering salt with his own hands must take care of his hurt hands.
All kinds of wars must be stopped at once. The green wars against the environment, wars with poisonous gases and wars with fire-arms must be stopped now. In such wars, victory is meaningless as there are no survivors left after the war. Instead of fighting and waging wars, people should come out in their best dresses. They must go out for a walk with their brothers. They must move about under the shady trees and enjoy doing nothing.
The poet does not want that we should confuse ‘stillness’ with ‘total inactivity. Doing nothing at all would amount to death. The poet has no association with death. We think that life is to move about. We should not be always on the move. For a while we should also take rest. A long silence can do us a lot of good. Men become sad when they fail to understand themselves. They feel helpless when they threaten themselves with death. A long silence can soothe our feelings and help us in removing this sadness.
The poet gives an example to illustrate the idea that ‘stillness’ does not mean total inactivity’. The earth can teach us a lesson. When everything seems dead, the earth remains alive.
The poet asks us to keep quiet till he counts twelve. Then he will go.
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