Summary of Poem No Men are Foreign by James Kirkup Beehive Class 9
Introduction of No Men are ForeignHave you ever thought of some people as strange, or other countries as "foreign"? We have many ways to think of other people as different from "us", as "them". "They" may belong to a different country, or speak a different language. In this poem, however. the poet reminds us of the many ways in which we are all the same: for we are all human.
Summary of No Men are Foreign
'No Men Are Foreign' is a beautiful poem, tells us that all the divisions based on nation, caste, colour, creed or religion are baseless since we all are similar in our basic need of the common resources for our life. We all have a common source of origin and we all are dependent on the same resources for our survival. We may belong to a different country and speak a different language but we all enjoy the beauty of nature.
In short, the poem is about the fact that all human beings are same. There is no difference between different people and the countries they live in. Therefore wars and the bloodshed that takes place in the name of caste, class, creed and country are futile and must be condemned. The uniforms worn by people in different parts of the world may be different, but the bodies beneath them are the same. The earth that one walks upon is the same for all people from different countries. All will one day or the other die and return to earth only. People in every part of the world get the sunshine, air and water in equal measures. They too prosper during peace but have to suffer poverty and hunger during
the war like us. They do the same jobs to earn their livelihood as we do. They are built just like us and sleep or wake up in a manner similar to ours. They too can be won over by love- Thus, human life is the same in every part of the world. We must remember that when we hate, betray and condemn others or forcibly take away land and property from them, we actually harm ourselves. Our weapons of war make the earth dirty and spoil its atmosphere. Wars thus cause misery and destruction. In this way, the poem gives us the message of 'mutual and peaceful co-existence' and warns us not to fight or hate others.
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.
The poet is addressing all of us. He tells us to remember, no men are strange. No country in world is foreign. He says no one is different for other. Under all uniforms, we have body which breaths similarly. He means to say we all human beings are equal despite of our different countries and cultures. The land on which a man of other country walks is similar to ours. It is the same earth. It is the same earth in which we all will get buried after death.
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.
The other people are also aware of sun, air and water. These are life sources for them too. They also fed by peaceful harvest. They have also starved by long winter‘s war. It means other people, like us have also seen good days and bad days. They also like peace and hate wars. Their hands are similar to our hands and in their lines we read. It means that as them, we also work hard, do labour for our survival. Their labour is not different from ours. Similar to us, work to feed themselves , their children.
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.
We should remember that other people too have eyes which similar to us, which wake or sleep simllar to us. They all have strength, which can be won by love. There is a common life for all human beings. We all follow certain things, like eating, working for survival, cry and laugh accordingly, we all have similarity in our body parts and function of those body parts. This is a very simple fact and we all can realize that we all human beings share equal traits.
Stanza 4
Let us remember, whenever we are told
To hate our brothers, it is ourselves
That we shall dispossess, betray, condemn.
Remember, we who take arms against each other
Few people tell us to hate other people who do not belong to our community, and fight against them. But, it is our duty that we should denies such ideas, we should condemn it. We should remember that we are the one who took arm against our brothers, we are the one who fight against each other. We should stop fighting among us.
Stanza 5
It is the human earth that we defile.
Our hells of fire and dust outrage the innocence
Of air that is everywhere our own,
Remember, no men are foreign, and no countries strange.
Poet says it is the human beings who make the earth dirty by hate against each other, by fires of wars we destroy our innocence. We fill air with dust and dirt. The air is ours. We are not supposed to make it dirty. We should remember no men are foreign for us, and no country is strange for us. We all are equal.