Extracts of No Men are Foreign | James Kirkup | Poem | Class 9 English |

Extracts of No Men are Foreign by James Kirkup | Poem | Class 9 English |

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.

Q1. Name the poem.

Answer: No Men are Foreign

Q2. Who is the poet of The Snake Trying?

Answer: James Kirkup

Q3. What does the word ‘Beneath’ mean?

Answer: The word ‘Beneath’ means ‘Under’.

Q4. What is the poet wish to do?

Answer: The poet wishes to remove the borders from the earth.

Q5. Which poetic device has been used in ‘Earth like this’?

Answer: Simile

Q6. Whom does the poet call ‘Our brothers’?

Answer: The poet calls all the soldiers ‘Brothers’.

Q7. Where will we all shall lie according to the poet?

Answer: According to the poet, we all shall lie in the grave in the same earth.

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.

Q1. Who are ‘They’ in the first line?

Answer: They refer to the people who hail from other countries.

Q2. How do we treat people from other countries?

Answer: According to the poet we call them foreigners and discriminate with them.

Q3. What is the message the poet is trying to convey?

Answer: The poet is trying to convey a message that all the people of this world are same no matter whichever country they belong to. God has not made any difference in creating the humans.

Q4. Find out the synonym of ‘Famished’ from the stanza?

Answer: Starved

Stanza 3

Remember they have eyes like ours that wake
Or sleep, and strength that can be won
By love. In every land is a common life
That all can recognise and understand.

Q1. Which poetic device has been used in ‘They have eyes like ours’?

Answer: Simile

Q2. How are we similar to foreigners according to the poet?

Answer: According to the poet, all the humans have been bestowed by God with same appearance like we have.

Q3. Whom can we win the hearts of others?

Answer: According to the poet, hearts of others can be won through love and affection towards them.

Q4. How can we curb and cut down the fights between humans?

Answer: According to the poet, if we recognise them and understand their feeling, fights and wars can be curbed.

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

Q1. What does the word ‘Dispossess’ mean?

Answer: The word ‘Dispossess’ refers to ‘Dislodge‘.

Q2. How do we cheat ourselves according to the poet?

Answer: By hating others, we cheat and condemn ourselves according to the poet.

Q3. What are the aftereffects of a war according to the poet?

Answer: According to the poet, the war leads to destruction and loss of life. No one has ever been benefitted by wars. 

Q4. What does the word ‘Betray’ mean?

Answer: The word ‘Betray’ refers to ‘Cheat‘.

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 of 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…….

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.

Q1. What does the word ‘Defile’ mean?

Answer: The word ‘Defile’ refers to ‘Pollute’.

Q2. What happens when we pick weapons against any person?

Answer: According to the poet, whenever we pick weapons against any person, we make the Earth dirty spreading the blood and bodies everywhere.

Q3. What message is being conveyed by the poet in this poem?

Answer: The message being conveyed in this poem is that we should not indulge in any kind of wars for they are useless and sheer wastage of time, money and energy.

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