Who wrote the poem 'No Men Are Foreign'?

The poem 'No Men Are Foreign' was written by James Kirkup (1918-2009), an English poet, translator and travel writer who won the Atlantic Award for Literature in 1950.

What does 'beneath all uniforms a single body breathes' mean?

It means that although people wear different dress and have different outward appearances (uniforms), underneath they are all the same — a single human body that breathes and lives just like ours.

Why does the poet repeat the word 'remember'?

The poet repeats 'remember' four times to strongly emphasise and remind us again and again that all people are brothers and equal, so that we never forget it or fall into hatred and war.

How do we defile the human earth according to the poem?

We defile the human earth mainly through war — our 'hells of fire and dust' pollute the pure air. We also harm it by cutting trees, polluting rivers and air, and destroying nature.

Lesson 9: No Men Are Foreign

Q: What is the central idea of 'No Men Are Foreign'?

All human beings are equal and brothers, whatever their country, colour, language or dress. War and hatred harm not only others but ourselves and the earth, so we must live in peace, love and universal brotherhood.

Detailed Text · A poem by James Kirkup

English · Odisha Board Class 9 · Summary + Textbook Q&A + 25 Quiz

📖 Lesson 9 — No Men Are Foreign (Detailed Text · Poem): A powerful anti-war poem by James Kirkup on the universal brotherhood of mankind. The poet reminds us again and again that no man is foreign and no country is strange — all people are equal, so we must love, not hate, one another. Everything you need — the full poem, central idea, stanza-wise explanation, poet, word-meanings and all textbook answers — is here.

No Men Are Foreign

📝 About the Poem

‘No Men Are Foreign’ is based on the idea that no man is foreign or strange. All men are equal; though they are separated by boundaries, languages and dress (attires), there is no real difference among people of different nations. So we should not hate people of other countries, for we all belong to one brotherhood, and to harm them is to harm ourselves.

✍️ About the Poet

James Kirkup (1918–2009) was born at Robertson Street, South Shields, Co-Durham (England), on 23 April 1918. He was a well-known poet, translator and travel writer. He won the Atlantic Award for Literature in 1950 and worked as Professor of English at Stockholm and at Tohoku University, Sendai (Japan). He died on 10 May 2009.

📜 The Poem (full text)

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.

They, too, aware of sun and air and water,
Are fed by peaceful harvests, by war's long winter starved.
Their hands are ours, and in their lines we read
A labour not different from our own.

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.

Let us remember, whatever we are told
To hate our brothers, it is ourselves
That we shall dispossess, betray, condemn,
Remember, we who take arms against each other.

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.

📚 Stanza-wise Explanation

Stanza 1: We must remember that no men are strange and no countries are foreign. Beneath all the different uniforms (dress / outward identity), a single human body breathes just like ours. The land our brothers in other countries walk on is the same earth, and in it we all shall one day lie buried.

Stanza 2: People of other countries too enjoy the sun, air and water. They are fed by peaceful harvests and starved by war, just as we are. Their hands are like ours, and the lines on their hands show a life of hard labour no different from our own.

Stanza 3: They have eyes like ours that wake and sleep, and a strength that can be won by love (not by force). In every land there is a common life — birth, death, joys and sorrows — that everyone can recognise and understand.

Stanza 4: Whenever we are told to hate our brothers, we must remember that by doing so it is ourselves that we rob (dispossess), betray and condemn — we who take up arms against one another.

Stanza 5: By war we defile (pollute) the human earth. Our ‘hells of fire and dust’ (bombs and destruction) spoil the innocence (purity) of the air that is everywhere our own. So again — remember, no men are foreign and no countries are strange.

💡 Central Idea / Theme

All human beings are equal and brothers, whatever their country, colour, language or dress. War and hatred harm not only others but ourselves and the whole earth. We must live in peace, love and universal brotherhood.

📖 Glossary (Word Meanings)

Word / Phrase	Meaning
strange	unfamiliar; unknown
foreign	located outside one's own country
beneath	below; in a lower place
uniforms	(here) the different dress / outward appearance of people
a single body breathes like ours	all people live and breathe in the same way as we do
our brothers	people who live in countries other than ours
in which we all shall lie	we all shall lie buried in the same earth when we die
war's long winter starved	war-time trouble that robs away peace and starves people
their hands are ours	people outside our country work hard with their hands as we do
strength can be won by love	the strength of others can be won by love and kindness, not by force
dispossess	to deprive someone of their possessions
betray	to be false to; not to be loyal or faithful
condemn	to strongly criticise
defile	to make dirty; to pollute
hells of fire and dust	the fire, smoke and destruction of war
innocence of air	the freshness and purity of air, polluted due to war

E. Let's understand the poem

1What is this poem about? What should we remember?

The poem is about the universal brotherhood of mankind — that no man is foreign and no country is strange. We should remember that all people everywhere are alike and equal, that they are our brothers, and that to hate or harm them is to harm ourselves.

2What do you mean by ‘uniform’? Why are the uniforms different? What is there beneath all uniforms?

‘Uniforms’ here means the different dress, appearance and outward identity of people of various nations. Uniforms differ because of different countries, climates and cultures. But beneath all uniforms a single (human) body breathes — all people live and breathe in the same way.

3Do all the people on the earth breathe the same way? Who does ‘our brothers’ stand for, and how do they walk?

Yes, all people on earth breathe the same way; beneath all uniforms a single body breathes like ours. ‘Our brothers’ stands for the people who live in other countries. They walk upon the same earth that we walk on.

4What does ‘in which’ (fourth line, first stanza) stand for? Where are people buried when they die? Is it common everywhere? How should we treat our brothers?

‘In which’ stands for the earth. When people die, they are all buried in the same earth, which is common to everyone everywhere. Since all people are our brothers and sisters, we should treat them with love, kindness and respect.

5Who does ‘They’ refer to in the second stanza? What do we get from the sun, air and water — do people in other countries get them too?

‘They’ refers to the people of other countries. From the sun we get light and warmth; from air we get breath and life; and water is essential for living. People in other countries enjoy the same sun, air and water that we do — all are aware of them in the same way.

6Who are benefited if there are peaceful harvests? Can there be peaceful harvests during a war? What happens to people in war?

Everyone is benefited by peaceful harvests — all people are fed and prosper in times of peace. There can be no peaceful harvests during a war; war (‘war's long winter’) starves people, and causes death, hunger and suffering to all.

7What does ‘their hands are ours’ mean?

It means that the people of other countries work hard with their hands for their living, just as we do. The lines on their hands show a life of hard labour no different from our own — so their toil and ours are the same.

8Who do ‘they’ and ‘ours’ refer to in the third stanza? How can we win other people?

‘They’ refers to the people of other lands and ‘ours’ to us. We can win other people by love and kindness, not by force or war — their strength ‘can be won by love’.

9What does ‘common life’ mean?

‘Common life’ means the life shared by all human beings everywhere — birth, death, joy, sorrow, hunger, love and hard work. It is the same in every land, so all people can recognise and understand it.

10Who tells us to hate our brothers? What does ‘to hate our brothers’ mean (stanza 4)?

Selfish, power-hungry people (leaders) tell us to hate our brothers. ‘To hate our brothers’ means to hate the people of other countries at the command of such power-hungry people, which leads to war.

11How do we dispossess our brothers in other parts of the world?

We dispossess (deprive) our brothers by taking up arms and making war against them — robbing them of their peace, homes, possessions and lives. In doing so, the poet says, we really dispossess and condemn ourselves.

12What is ‘human earth’? How do we defile the human earth? To whom do we do harm by going to war?

‘Human earth’ is the earth that belongs to all human beings. We defile (pollute and make dirty) it through war — our ‘hells of fire and dust’ harm the purity of the air. By going to war we harm ourselves and all humanity, not just the enemy.

13What does ‘our hells of fire’ mean? What do you mean by ‘innocence of air’?

‘Our hells of fire (and dust)’ means the fire, smoke, bombs and destruction of war. ‘Innocence of air’ means the freshness and purity of the air that nature has blessed us with — which is spoiled and polluted because of war.

E (b) — Choose the right option

1A single body breathes beneath all ———. (A) souls (B) bodies (C) uniforms (D) heads

(C) uniforms.

2What are all people aware of? (A) water (B) air (C) sun (D) all of the above

(D) all of the above (sun, air and water).

3What are we doing to the human earth according to the poet? (A) decorating (B) defiling (C) saving (D) recreating

(B) defiling.

4How can strength be won? (A) By war (B) By love and kindness (C) By betraying (D) By taking arms against each other

(B) By love and kindness.

5We should remember that ———. (A) no men are foreign (B) no men are strange (C) no men are our enemies (D) all of the above

(D) all of the above.

F. Let's appreciate the poem

1What message does the poet convey in the poem ‘No Men Are Foreign’?

The poet conveys that no man is foreign and no country is strange — all people are equal and belong to one brotherhood. We should not hate or fight one another, because by harming our brothers we really harm ourselves and the earth we all share. The poem is a strong plea for peace, love and universal brotherhood.

2How do we defile the human earth? Apart from war, what other things do we do to defile the earth?

We mainly defile the human earth through war — our ‘hells of fire and dust’ pollute the air. Apart from war, we also defile the earth by cutting down trees, polluting rivers and the air, dumping waste and plastic, and destroying nature.

3The poet uses the word ‘remember’ four times in this poem. What does he want to convey?

By repeating ‘remember’, the poet strongly emphasises and reminds us again and again of the vital truth that all people are brothers and equal. He wants us never to forget this and never to fall into the hatred and war that destroy us all.

4The poet repeats the line with small changes in the last line. What are those changes? Do both lines mean the same?

In the first stanza the line is ‘Remember, no men are strange, no countries foreign’; in the last line it becomes ‘Remember, no men are foreign, and no countries strange’. The words ‘strange’ and ‘foreign’ are swapped. Yes, both lines mean the same — that all men and all countries are alike, and none is truly foreign or strange.

5How does the poet suggest that all people in the world are equal?

The poet shows that beneath all uniforms a single body breathes; all people have eyes that wake and sleep; all are aware of sun, air and water; all work hard for a living; and all share a common life of birth, death, joy and sorrow. In these ways he suggests that all people in the world are equal.

6Socrates wrote: ‘I am a citizen, not of Athens or Greece, but of the world.’ Does this match the theme of the poem? How?

Yes, it matches the theme perfectly. Socrates meant he belonged to the whole world, not just to one city or country. Like Kirkup's poem, this expresses the idea of universal brotherhood — that we are all citizens of one world and members of one human family, so no man is foreign.