Chapter 6: Poem "No Men are Foreign" by James Kirkup - NCERT Class 9th Poem
James Harold Kirkup was a English poet, translator and travel writer of the twentieth century. In his poem, the poet highlights the mistrust that divides the people of different country. Being patriotic is good, but treating people of other nations as "alien" and "enemy" won't help. An ancient sanskrit verse: "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (Sanskrit: वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम्) teaches us that we are all part of a Global family. Today, All countries are interdependent on other countries for various economic resources. The poem tries to depict the similarities we share with each other.
Stanza 1
The poem begins with the narrator emphasizes the point that we, human beings, are all alike and we share so many similarities with each other. Our dresses might be different to each other's , but our bodies are similar. Even the soil on which we walk has the same constituents as the soil of a country which we consider alien. All of us will be scattered one day in the same soil.
Stanza 2
It doesn't matter whether we live in the east or the west, all of us breathe the same oxygen. Even the sun marks its attendence by risinga and shining in almost all the corners of the world.
Harsh winter is faced by all of us. Every country's farmers have to toil hard patiently for their harvests. War wreak havoc wherever it erupts. Foreigners labour like us, so there's no alternative to physical work. Their labourers get blisters on their hands just like our's do. Everywhere poor confront hunger and starvation.
Stanza 3
Foreigners also have a routine and get tired and sleep like us. They are also soft at the core of their heart and love and warmth bind us together, like us. Everywhere, common life is same from infancy to childhood to adulthood till death.
Stanza 4
The narrator cautions that sowing the seeds of hatred against other nations, will backfire and we will dig our own grave.
Countries that put up arms and foster breeding grounds for terrorist groups against rival countries will only damage the earth.
Stanza 5
As countries engage in arms race and employ destructive weapons, it pollutes the air which has no boundaries and all of us will breathe toxic air. Again, the poet concludes by again reiterating that we should not foreigners as "others" and all countries are part of a single world, our earth which should protect at any cost.
The poem begins with the narrator emphasizes the point that we, human beings, are all alike and we share so many similarities with each other. Our dresses might be different to each other's , but our bodies are similar. Even the soil on which we walk has the same constituents as the soil of a country which we consider alien. All of us will be scattered one day in the same soil.
Stanza 2
It doesn't matter whether we live in the east or the west, all of us breathe the same oxygen. Even the sun marks its attendence by risinga and shining in almost all the corners of the world.
Harsh winter is faced by all of us. Every country's farmers have to toil hard patiently for their harvests. War wreak havoc wherever it erupts. Foreigners labour like us, so there's no alternative to physical work. Their labourers get blisters on their hands just like our's do. Everywhere poor confront hunger and starvation.
Stanza 3
Foreigners also have a routine and get tired and sleep like us. They are also soft at the core of their heart and love and warmth bind us together, like us. Everywhere, common life is same from infancy to childhood to adulthood till death.
Stanza 4
The narrator cautions that sowing the seeds of hatred against other nations, will backfire and we will dig our own grave.
Countries that put up arms and foster breeding grounds for terrorist groups against rival countries will only damage the earth.
Stanza 5
As countries engage in arms race and employ destructive weapons, it pollutes the air which has no boundaries and all of us will breathe toxic air. Again, the poet concludes by again reiterating that we should not foreigners as "others" and all countries are part of a single world, our earth which should protect at any cost.
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