NO MEN ARE FOREIGN
Let’s understand the poem:
(a) Read the poem above silently and answer the following questions.
1. What is this poem about?
Ans: The poem conveys the message that everyone is equal. No one is strange or different, though there is difference in color, culture, religion but at the end we all are humans.
2. What should we remember?
Ans: We should remember that no men are strange and no country is foreign.
3. What do you mean by ‘uniform’ as mentioned by the poet?
Ans: ’Uniform’ means different people from different countries, though there is difference in the outer appearance, they are humans just like everyone else.
4. Why are the uniforms different?
Ans: The uniforms are different because people belong to different region, culture, tradition, etc.
5. What is there beneath all uniforms?
Ans: Beneath all the uniforms there are bodies, those are same just like other humans.
6. Do all the people on the earth breathe the same way?
Ans: Yes, all the people on the earth breathe the same oxygen.
7. Who does “our brothers” stand for?
Ans: “Our brothers” mean people from the other countries.
8. How do they walk? Do we walk like them?
Ans: They walk just like us by using legs. Yes, we walk like them, in fact all humans walk in the same way.
9. What does the phrase “in which” stand for? (fourth line , first stanza)
Ans: “In which” means the earth, the land on which we live.
10. Where are people buried when they die? Is it common everywhere?
Ans: People are buried when they die because human bodies tend to decay after the death. Yes, the burial of human bodies is common everywhere.
11. All people in the world are our brothers and sisters. How should we treat them?
Ans: We should treat other people just like our brothers and sisters. We should treat them equally and love them no matter from they belong to.
12. Who does “They” refer to in the first line of the second stanza?
Ans: “They’ refers to the people from the other countries.
13. What do we get from the sun? Do people in other countries get it?
Ans: The sun is the universal element. We gun light and heat from the sun. People from other countries get the same light and heat from the sun.
14. How is air essential to us? Is it essential for the people in other countries?
Ans: We all need air to breathe and without air we cannot live so air is essential to us. It is essential for the people in the other countries because they too need the air for breathing and living.
15. Can we live without water? What about the people in other countries?
Ans: No, we cannot live water. It is one of the basic needs of humans and we need water for many things. People from other countries also need water and they cannot live without it.
16. What are the people in other countries aware of? Do we also realise it in the same way?
Ans: The people in other countries are aware of the sun, air and water. Yes, we too realize it in the same way.
17. Who are benefitted if there are peaceful harvests? How?
Ans: Everyone is benefitted if there are peaceful harvests. If there is peaceful harvest, there would no shortage of food.
18. Can there be peaceful harvests if there is a war? What happens to people when there is a war or after a war?
Ans: No, there cannot be peaceful harvests if there is a war. People suffer a lot when there is a war or even after the war people are deprived of many things. War disturbs the society and people living in it.
19. What does “their hands are ours” mean?
Ans: Just like we work hard in our lives, in the same way people from the other countries also work hard just like us. The hard work done by our hands is similar to the hard work done by them.
20. Who do the words “they” and “ours” refer to in the first line of the third stanza?
Ans: ”They” refers to the people from the other countries.”Ours” refers to the people from our country.
21. How can we win other people?
Ans: We can win other people by love and support.
22. What does common life mean? (birth, death, joyfulness, etc. Add more.)
Ans: Common life means birth, death, joyfulness, basic needs, bodies, feelings, etc.
23. Who tells us to hate our brothers?
Ans: People with evil intention who try to disturb the harmony of the country, tell us to hate our brothers.
24. What does “to hate our brothers” mean? (stanza-4)
Ans: “To hate our brothers” mean to have hatred for the people from the other countries. Some corrupt and selfish people order us to hate our brothers.
25. How do we dispossess our brothers in other part of the world?
Ans: We are ordered to dispossess our brothers by betraying and calling out for war.
26 What is “human earth”?
Ans: The “human earth” refers to the earth of the people.
27. How do we defile the human earth?
Ans: We defile the human earth by creating war and keeping hatred for each other. By killing innocence of the people we defile the human earth.
28. To whom do we harm by going to war?
Ans: By going to war we harm ourselves and people from the other countries. We harm the entire human beings by going to war.
29. What does “our hells of fire” mean?
Ans: “Our hells of fire” mean the hatred created by the humans that cause trouble to the earth.
30. What do you mean by “Innocence of air?”
Ans: ”Innocence of air” means the beauty of the nature and its elements. The innocence is damaged by the humans by going on war.
(b) Choose the right option.
1. A single body breathes beneath all _______.
A. souls B. bodies C. uniforms D. heads
Ans: C. uniforms
2. What are all people aware of?
A. water B. air C. sun D. all of the above
Ans: D. all of the above
3. What are we doing to the human earth according to the poet?
A. decorating B. defiling C. saving D. recreating
Ans: B. defiling
4. How can strength be won?
A. By war B. By love and kindness C. By betraying D. By taking arms against each other
Ans: B. By love and kindness
5. We should remember that __________________________.
A. no men are foreign B. no men are strange C. no men are our enemies D. all of the above
Ans: D. all of the above
Let’s appreciate the poem:
1. What message does the poet convey in the poem “No Men Are Foreign"?
Ans: The poet conveys a strong and powerful message of brotherhood in the poem “No Men Are Foreign.” The poet tells everyone that we must respect and share feeling of brotherhood to the people from other countries. The poet is against the hatred of people of other countries. He tells us to treat everyone equally.
2. How do we defile the human earth? Apart from war, what other things do we do to defile the earth?
Ans: We defile this beautiful human earth by going for war. It kills the beauty of the mother nature. Apart from war, feeling of hatred, betrayal and inequality defile the earth.
3. The poet uses the word “remember” four times in this poem. What does he want to convey?
Ans: The poet emphasizes on the word “remember” four times to realize the importance of brotherhood. He wants us to keep feeling of love towards the people of the other countries.
4. The poet repeats the line “Remember, no men are strange, no countries foreign” in the last line with some changes? What are those small changes? Do both the lines mean the same?
Ans: Remember, no men are strange, no countries foreign-this is the first line and Remember, no men are foreign, and no countries strange –this is the last line. Both the lines have the same meaning only the words strange and foreign are interchanged in both the lines.
5. How does the poet suggest that all people in the world are equal?
Ans: The poet believes that all people in the world are equal. All the people have same human bodies, they breathe the same air and drink the same water. All the people have the same sun which is universal and people from the other countries work hard just like people from our country. Though people belong from different countries and have different color, religion, creed, etc. at the end they are just like us, they are humans too and have the same heart and blood.
6. One of the greatest philosophers of the world, Socrates wrote the following sentence. “I am a citizen, not of Athens or Greece, but of the world.” Does this sentence match with the theme of the poem? How?
Ans: Socrates’ sentence totally matches with the theme of the poem. Socrates’ sentence states that he believed in equality and he considered himself as the citizen of the world and of one particular country. He believed in brotherhood and love and the poem also emphasizes the same feelings. The poem tells us to respect other people with same affection. After all, we are human beings living on the same earth.
3. Let’s match the stanzas with their themes.
Draw lines to match column “A” with column “B”. “A” contains the stanza numbers and “B” contains the themes. One is done for you.
| Stanza Numbers | Themes of the stanzas |
| 2 | aware of sun , air and water- hands alike –work hard for livelihood |
| 4 | power –hungry leaders – motivate negatively – hate our brothers- go for a war – think brothers to be foreign |
| 1 | different kinds of people -different uniforms –walk in the same way on the earth – lie in the earth when die |
| 5 | human earth-all countries , races and culture – war causes death and destruction – pollute the air and environment |
| 3 | have eyes like ours –wake and sleep alike – be won by love and kindness- not by force |
4. Let’s write :
Write a paragraph for each stanza of the poem. Go through the above matching activity before you begin to write. One paragraph is written to help you.
The poem “No Men Are Foreign” has five stanzas. The first stanza is about how people in different countries wear different uniforms. They walk on the same earth using their legs. We also walk so using our legs. They are buried in the earth when they die. We are also buried in the earth when we die. So we are equal.
The second stanza is about the fact that they too are aware of the sun, air and water just like us. When there is war, there is disturbance in the harvest and people starve because of lack of food. The poet tells us that their labor is just our labor who works hard.
The third stanza is about making people realization that just like us the people from other countries also have eyes which sleep and wake. Everyone human being is blessed with the strength of love. Also he adds that in every land that is in every country there is one common thing which is life. And if we try to understand and recognize each other, then we understand that they too have feelings just like us.
The fourth stanza is about making us aware from the people who try to create hate in our hearts. The poet tells us to remember that whenever someone provokes to hate people from the other countries, we should listen to that person. When we hate people from the other country, then we are harming ourselves, we betray and condemn ourselves. The poet asks us not to fall prey for such people. We should remember not to have hatred against the people of the other countries.
The last stanza there is another powerful message. The poet tells that whenever there is war, it harms the beautiful nature. The bodies that are buried get mixed with the earth and there is much hatred when the war is over. Many people lose their lives in a war. The dust from the war kills the innocence of the air that was once fresh. The poet ends the poem with again repeating the first line but with the interchange of the words emphasizing the meaning that no men are different and no country is strange. We should respect other people and countries.