No Men Are Foreign by James Kirkup

Watch live class

No men is foreign poem by poet James Kirkup is one of the best poems for teenagers. This article talk about all the different themes and a summary of the poem. The No Men are foreign Poem revolves around the concept of brotherhood and humanity. The poem aims to instill in young minds the feeling of oneness or unity.

Explanation Of the Poem No  Men are Foreign

"Stanza (1)

Remember, no men are strange, no countries foreign

Beneath all uniforms, a single body breathes

Like ours, the land our brothers walk upon

Is earth like this, in which we all shall lie."

Explanation :

In the first stanza, the poet introduces the theme of the poem. He states that no men are strange, and no country is foreign. He says that the body is the same for every individual, only the clothing created by men is different. Adding that the earth is also one and whole. The land we  walk upon is similar to the land every individual walks upon. The poet stresses the fact that there are no divisions in us.

Stanza 2

"They, too, aware of sun, and air and water,

Are fed by peaceful  harvests, by war's long winter  starv'd

Their hands are ours, and in their lines we read

A labour not different from our own."

Explanation

The second stanza of the poem stresses mother nature. The poet says the mother nature doesn't descriminate and has provided each individual with the same harvest to keep us alive and well. Poet adds that we also get our equal share of land, sunlight, and air. Peaceful farmers feed us, and during winters when there is a war and death, each one of us suffers together. The poet aims at showing us that we suffer and prosper together.

Stanza (3)

"Remember they have eyes like ours that wake

Or sleep, and strength that can be won

By love, In every land is common life

That all can recognise and Understand."

Explanation :

The stanza deals with love. The poet urges the reader to remember that we have a similar features that perform a similar function -how then can we be different? He says apart from physical similarties, we also have emotional strength which can be won by love. He advises love as the remedy for war. He also asks the reader to remember that each land, whether we have visited it with our own eyes or not,has life. Life springs in every corner of the earth. These lovely things want to live and strive and laugh. They do not wish for war or death. The poet urges us to understand and recognized this.

Stanza (4)

"Let us remember, whenever we are told

To hate our brothers, it is ourselves

That we shall disposses, betray, condemn.

Remember, we  who take arms against each other."

Explanation

The poet says that we should remember that whenever someone tell us to hate a person from another country, to think him as our enemy and whenever  we think of someone to be our enemy, then we deprive ourself, and we condemn ourselves. He says that we should stay away from such negativity. We shoulda not consider antone to be our enemy. During a war, both the parties must bear the loss. And that is why the poet says that war is not in our favour.

Stanza (5)

"It is the human earth that we defile.

Ours hells of fire and dust outrage the innocence

Of air that is everywhere our own,

Remember, no men are foreign, and no countries strange."

Explanation

We should keep in mind that whenever we pick weapon against any person, we make the earth dirty because weapons kill people and their bodies which fall on the earth make it dirty. Whenever war happen, it leads  to lot of bloodsheds, fire and death. These dead bodies accumulate on the Earth and make it impure. The fire of war which erupts, the smoke which comes out, the dust which fill the air-it is so dirty that it pollutes and outrage the purity of the air. Poet gives here massage that we should avoid war at any cost.

Difficult word Meaning

Disposses :dislodge, deprive

Defile:make dirty, pollute

Outrage the innocence of :violate the puriry of

Strange:Unusual or surprising, difficult to understand or explain,