In this post, you will get some important questions from “Keeping Quiet” for the AHSEC HS final examination. This poem is in the English syllabus of HS class 12. Also, I have included the previous year’s questions that came from this poem. Patterns of these extra questions are of two types, i.e., Long answers type and Essay type questions.
- Section I: Previous Year Questions
- Section II: Important Questions From Keeping Quiet For AHSEC

AHSEC English Previous Year Questions With Answers From the Poem “Keeping Quiet”
In this section, you will get previous years’ questions in English which came in the HS final examination of class 12. These previous year’s questions are from the chapter “Keeping Quiet”. You also get the answers to these questions. Since there is a chance of repeating questions in the current session, these extra questions from the poem keeping quiet will be very important for the upcoming HS examination.
Q1. Read the following extracts and answer the questions:
“Those who prepare green wars, (AHSEC HS 2013, 2015)
…………………………….
In the shade, doing nothing.”
a. What are the different kinds of wars mentioned by the poet in the passage?
Ans: The poet mentions different kinds of wars in the passage such as – “green wars”, “wars with gas” and “wars with fire”.
b. What kind of victory do they achieve?
Ans: They will achieve a victory with no survivors.
c. What do the warmongers do?
Ans: The warmongers will put on clean clothes and walk about with their brothers in the shade, doing nothing.
d. Find words in the passage that mean ‘those left alive’ and ‘win’.
Ans: The phrase ‘those left alive’ means ‘survivors’. On the other hand ‘win’ means ‘victory’.
Q2. Read The following extracts and answer the questions:
What I want should not be confused
……………………………………………………….
And of threatening ourselves with death
a. What does the poet want to be?
Ans: The poet wants his readers not to be confused with total inactivity because he doesn’t compare that exotic moment with death.
b. What does the poet mean by ‘I want no truck with death’?
Ans: The poet Pablo Neruda doesn’t want to compare the exotic moment with total inactivity. According to him, total inactivity refers to death. And he doesn’t want any association with death. He compares the same with life. Hence, the poet is advocating for life, not death.
c. What is the sadness that the poet refers to? What is the sadness that Neruda talks of? (AHSEC HS 2013, 2015, 2014)
Ans: The sadness of the men is exposed in the poem ‘Keeping Quiet’ by Pablo Neruda. The poet says man’s sadness is formed out of his own thinking and actions. He understands so much but fails to understand himself and his actions.
Q3. What will counting up to twelve and keeping still help us to achieve? (AHSEC HS 2012)
Ans: The poet insists on us counting up to twelve and keeping still. The word ‘twelve’ may represent the 12 hours on the clock which too symbolically represents the unity of the entire humanity as when all the three hands of a clock meet at 12 hours, they show togetherness. Also after a while, it continues its journey with a new state of time. Hence, counting up to twelve will create togetherness, and keeping still will establish peace and harmony for the entire humanity as well as increase its life on earth.
Important Questions and Answers From the Poem Keeping Quiet For AHSEC Class 12
In this section, you will find some extra questions with answers from the poem Keeping Quiet which in the English textbook of class 12 AHSEC. These questions from keeping quiet are very important for the HS class 12 final examination. There are four questions that are based on extracts and three long answer-type questions.
Q2. Read the following extracts from “Keeping Quiet” and answer the questions:
“Now we will count to twelve
………………………………….
And not move our arms so much.”
a. How long the poet want to stay still?
Ans: The poet wants us to keep still till he counts twelve.
b. Why does he ask us to keep still and not use any language?
Ans: The poet asks us to keep still and not use any language to create an exotic moment. It will be a fascinating moment without rush or hurry, without engines where all of us shall enjoy the sudden strangeness of the moment together.
c. What does the poet mean by ‘not move our arms so much’?
Ans: The poet means by the following extract “not move our arms so much” – to cease all activities that men often use to harm others.
Q3. Read the following extracts and answer the questions:
“It would be an exotic moment
………………………………….
In a sudden strangeness.”
a. What is the name of the poem from which these lines are taken?
Ans: The above lines are taken from the poem “Keeping Quiet” by Pablo Neruda.
b. What kind of moment will it be?
Ans: It will be an ‘exotic moment’.
c. What will happen if there is no rush or running of engines?
Ans: It will be an exotic moment if there is no rush or running of engines where we wil] all be together in a sudden strangeness.
d. How all of us would feel at that moment?
Ans: We would all be together and feel a sudden strangeness at that moment.
Q4. Questions from extracts of “Keeping Quiet” for AHSEC HS Class 12:
“Fisherman in the cold sea
…………………………………..
Would look at his hurt hands.”
a. Who is the poet of the poem from which these lines are taken?
Ans: Pablo Neruda is the poet of the poem ‘Keeping Quiet’ from which these lines are taken.
b. What do the fishermen do in the cold sea?
Ans: The fishermen in the cold sea would not hurt whales and stay away from harmful activities.
c. What has happened to man gathering salt?
Ans: The man gathering salt due to his continuous work got hurt in his hands and would look at his hurt hands and take care of them during the exotic moment.
d. Find words from the passage that mean ‘those who catch fish’ and ‘collecting’.
Ans: The words ‘those who catch fish’ mean ‘fisherman’. On the other hand ‘collecting’ means ‘gathering’.
Q6. Read the following extracts and answer the questions:
‘Perhaps the Earth can teach us
……………………………………………….
And you keep quiet and J shall go.’
a. What can the earth teach us?
Ans: The earth can teach a lesson to mankind on how to live on it. Life and living never stop on earth. When everything appears to be dead only one thing remains alive. It is the earth itself.
b. Why does the poet count up to twelve?
Ans: The poet counts up to twelve because the twelve figures on the clock represent movement & time, unity, and newness.
c. What will ‘Keeping Quiet’ help us achieve?
Ans: Keeping Quiet will help us in creating a mutual understanding and introspection among human beings. It will keep us away from harmful activities.
Important Long Answer Type Questions with Answers from “Keeping Quiet” for AHSEC Class 12
Following are the few most important questions with answers from the English Poem “Keeping Quit”. These questions are very important for the AHSEC HS final exam.
Q1. What is the significance of the phrase ‘the face of the earth’ in Neruda’s poem?
Ans: The phrase ‘the face of the earth’ signifies ‘the surface of this earth’ where people inhabit different boundaries. Through the phrase, the poet wants to focus on universal unity and global humanism. He means that the earth has only one surface and we all are living together on it. He insists all the people living on the surface of this earth keep quiet to create an exotic moment where a sudden strangeness will be enjoyed together.
Q2. What is considered to be an ‘exotic moment’ in the poem?
Ans: In the poem ‘Keeping Quiet’ the phrase ‘exotic moment’ is considered to be a significantly fascinating moment when all would be quiet, without any noise or movement, without rush or hustle and this moment of profound silence would bring us together and closer to each other.
Q3. What does the poet want to convey by addressing the fisherman and the man gathering salt?
Ans: The poet Pablo Neruda wants to convey by addressing the fisherman in the cold polar region would restrain from hunting whales and the man gathering salt at the salt pits would have some relief to tend to his hurt hands. So there would be no instance of hurt or injury in the existing moment of inactivity.