NO M E N A R E

F O R E I G N
B Y J A M E S K I R K U P
MRS. S. JONATHAN
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 Introduction to the poem
The title- ‘No men are Foreign’ means that the no men belong to
another country. The poet wants to say that all men are same, all
men are equal. He wants to promote the concept of universal
brotherhood. In this poem, the poet wants to tell us that everyone
in this world is same. All people, all men are same – they eat, live,
die the same way. Everyone gets the bounties of nature like,
sunshine, land etc. in equal measure. We can also say that it is a
peace poem.

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 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.

In the first line the poet says that no men are strange, and no country is foreign. So, he is attempting to
remove the borders from the Earth which have been erected to separate different countries. Then only no
country will be foreign. We will feel every country as our own land when there will be no borders, everyone
will be free to move around. The poet wants to say that the entire Earth is one and all the people who live on
this Earth belong to one human race. Then he says that inside the uniforms worn by soldiers of different
countries, the human being is the same. God has made all of us in a similar way. All breathe in the same
way. Then he says that all the soldiers are our brothers – we all walk upon the same ‘Mother Earth’ and
upon our death, shall lie in the grave in the same Earth.

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 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.

‘They’ refers to those people who belong to other countries. We call them foreigners and discriminate them
and fight with them also. The poet says that nature has given all the bounties to all people also just like he
has given to us. Everyone gets sunlight, air and water in equal measure which means that God does not
differentiate between people from different countries. We all do farming during the time of peace, when there
is no war. We live a relaxed life and eat the things given to us by nature. Further, he adds that the way we
starve during wars and winter time is the same for those belonging to other countries. Even they don’t get
food at that time. So, he wants to say that foreigners who belong to another country and we, both are same.
And then the poet says that even their hands are same as ours, they work very hard just like we do. He is
giving all these examples to covey to the reader that there is no difference in us and the people belonging to
another country.

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 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.

The poet asks the reader to remember something. He says that we should keep in mind that the people of
another country, whom we think to be our enemies, have been bestowed by God with similar appearance
like us. God has given them eyes like ours which open when awake and close when we are asleep.
Similarly, he has given them strength which we can win through love. Then he says that in every country, in
every land there is one common thing, that is life. Life means all the things that are living. And if we can
recognize them and if we can understand their feelings and realize that they are like us, then there will be
no fights or wars between us.

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 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

The poet says that we should remember that whenever someone tells us to hate a person from another
country, to think him as our enemy, and whenever we think someone to be our enemy, then we deprive
ourselves, we cheat ourselves, and we condemn ourselves. He says that we should stay away from such
negativity. We should not consider anyone 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. He says that whenever we pick any
weapon against someone, we should remember one thing…….

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 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.
defile: make dirty; pollute
outrage the innocence of: violate the purity of

We should keep in mind that whenever we pick weapons 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 happens,
it leads to a lot of bloodshed, fire and death. These dead bodies accumulate on the Earth and it make it
impure. The fire of war which erupts, the smoke which comes out, the dust which fills the air - it is so dirty
that it pollutes and outrages the purity of the air. With all these things the poet wants to give us a message
that we should not indulge in war. Finally, he ends the poem by writing the first line in reverse and saying
that Remember, no men are foreign, and no countries strange

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 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 –
ii.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 (colour of skin)
 Stanza 2 – wars time is compared to the winter season

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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
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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

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 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.

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