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No Men Are Foreign Class - 9

The poem 'No Men Are Foreign' emphasizes that all people are fundamentally the same, regardless of borders or differences created by language. In 3 sentences, the summary is: The poet reminds that we all walk upon the same earth, breathe the same air, and will lie in the same earth when dead, showing our shared humanity transcends divisions. While alive we all use our hands to work and enjoy nature's bounties in times of peace, but starve together in wars and winter. The poem urges readers to remember our shared human experience and brotherhood across borders.

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841 views

No Men Are Foreign Class - 9

The poem 'No Men Are Foreign' emphasizes that all people are fundamentally the same, regardless of borders or differences created by language. In 3 sentences, the summary is: The poet reminds that we all walk upon the same earth, breathe the same air, and will lie in the same earth when dead, showing our shared humanity transcends divisions. While alive we all use our hands to work and enjoy nature's bounties in times of peace, but starve together in wars and winter. The poem urges readers to remember our shared human experience and brotherhood across borders.

Uploaded by

NTP Gamerz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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No Men Are Foreign

By James Kirkup

Summary
The poem ‘No Men Are Foreign’ begins and ends with the same line- ‘Remember
no men are strange, no countries foreign’ as the poet wants to emphasize on the
fact that all the people living on this Earth are the same and that we have created
distinctions by erecting borders and fences, different languages, etc. While we
are alive, we walk on the same Earth and upon our death, we will lie in our graves
in the same earth. He draws another similarity that we all enjoy good food during
peace and starve during war and in winter time. We all have similar hands which
we use to do a lot of hard work. All of us have eyes which remain open when we
are awake and close when we are asleep. He reminds the reader that whenever
we hate someone, we cheat and hate ourselves. Also, when we pick up weapons
against someone, we pollute the Earth and make it impure with the huge mounds
of dead bodies strewn on it.

Literary Devices

i.Rhyme Scheme - The entire poem is written in free verse. There is no rhyme
scheme in the poem.

The literary devices used are as follows –

i.Alliteration: The repetition of a consonant sound in two or more closely placed


words is called alliteration. The instances of alliteration in the poem are -

▪ Stanza 1 - Body, breathes ‘b’ sound is repeated


▪ Stanza 2 – war’s, winter ‘w’ sound is repeated

i.Metaphor

▪ Stanza 1 - Uniform refers to the military of different countries


▪ Stanza 2 – wars time is compared to the winter season

i. Repetition: It is used in the entire poem.


▪ ‘Remember’ word is repeated 5 times in this poem.
▪ ‘Remember, no men are strange, no countries foreign’ is repeated in stanza 1
and stanza 5

i. Enjambment - running lines of poetry from one line to the next without using
any kind of punctuation to indicate a stop. Instances of enjambment in the poem
are as follows-

▪ Stanza 1 – line 2, 3 and 4


▪ Stanza 2 – line 3 and 3
▪ Stanza 3 – line 1, 2, and 3
▪ Stanza 4 – line 1 and 2
▪ Stanza 5 – Line 2 and 3

Question and Answers


1. (i) “Beneath all uniforms . ..” What uniforms do you think the poet is
speaking about?
(ii) How does the poet suggest that all people on earth are the same?
A. (i) The uniforms refer to those worn by soldiers belonging to different
countries who indulge in wars and fights.
(ii) The poet says that all the people are the same in the following ways –

i.we belong to one human race


ii.we walk on the same Earth
iii.Upon death, we will lie in our graves in the same Earth
iv.During peace we all enjoy the bounties of nature
v.During war and in the winter season, we all starve due to shortage of food
vi.We all do a lot of labour with our hands
vii.We have eyes which function in the same way

2. In stanza 1, find five ways in which we all are alike. Pick out the words.
A. The five words which indicate that we are all alike are –

i.we walk
ii.we breathe
iii.we have eyes
iv.we work with our hands
v.we enjoy the bounties of nature

3. How many common features can you find in stanza 2? Pick out the words.
A. There are three common features in stanza two. They are as follows –

i.We enjoy the bounties of nature and eat good food during peace
ii.We starve during war and in winter season.
iii.We have similar hands which we use for doing labour

4. “...whenever we are told to hate our brothers ...” When do you think this
happens? Why? Who ‘tells’ us? Should we do as we are told at such times?
What does the poet say?
A. The leaders of any country tell the masses to hate the people of another
country. They say so to fulfil their personal gains and benefits. The poet says
that we should not follow them because when we hate our brothers, we hate and
belittle ourselves. When we indulge in wars, we pollute and render the mother
Earth impure by laying dead bodies on it.

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