Tamilnadu State Board Class 10 English Solutions Poem Chapter 6 No Men Are Foreign
No Men Are Foreign Cricket Textual Questions
Based on the understanding of the poem, read the following lines and answer the questions given below.
1. 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.
(a) What is found beneath all uniforms?
(b) What is same for every one of us?
(c) Where are we all going to lie finally?
Answer:
(a) The same human body that breathes is found beneath all uniforms.
(b) The earth we walk upon is the same for all of us.
(c) We are all going to lie beneath the earth.
2. They, too, aware of sun and air and water,
Are fed by peaceful harvests, by war’s long winter starv’d.
(a) What is common for all of us?
(b) How are we fed?
(c) Mention the season referred here?
Answer:
(a) The sun, air and water are common for all of us.
(b) When a country is peaceful and harvest can be reaped we are fed.
(c) Winter is the season referred here.
3. Their hands are ours, and in their lines we read
A labour not different from our own.
(a) Who does ‘their’ refer to?
(b) What does the poet mean by Tines we read’?
(c) What does not differ?
Answer:
(a) All the people from other countries of the world.
(b) The poet means lines that show hard work done by the hands.
(c) Labour does not differ. Hard work is the same for all human beings.
4. Let us remember, whenever we are told
To hate our brothers, it is ourselves
That we shall dispossess, betray, condemn.
(a) Who tells us to hate our brothers?
(b) What happens when we hate our brothers?
(c) What do we do to ourselves?
Answer:
(a) War tells us to hate our brothers.
(b) When we hate our brothers We hate ourselves.
(c) We disown ourselves, we cheat ourselves and hate ourselves.
5. 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.
(a) What outrages the innocence?
(b) Who are not foreign?
(c) What is not strange?
Answer:
(a) The fire and dust caused during a war when innocent people as well the earth suffer the purity is lost.
(b) The people who belong to earth are not foreign.
(c) All the countries on earth are not strange.
Poetic Comprehension – Additional
1. Remember they have eyes like ours that wake
Or sleep, and strength that can be won By love.
(a) Who do the words ‘they’ refer to?
(b) How can we win other people?
(c) Explain’They have eyes like ours that wake or sleep”.
Answer:
(a) They’ refer to people of different countries whom we consider to be strangers.
(b) The strength of other people can be won by love and kindness.
(c) The strangers or foreigners are similar to us in every way. They sleep and wake up each new day just like us.
2. In every land is common life
That all can recognise and understand.
(a) What do you understand by “common life”?
(b) Who experiences the common life?
(c) What does the poet is trying to convey in these lines?
Answer:
(a) Common life means life anywhere in the world that has similar patterns and features like birth, death, joys, sorrows, youth and old age.
(b) ‘The common life’ is experienced by all the people of the world regardless of the country in which they live.
(c) He is trying to convey that even our strangers are similar to us in every way.
3. Remember, we who take arms against each other It is the human earth that we defile.
(a) Why do we take arms against each other?
(b) What is ‘human earth’?
(c) How do we defile ‘human earth’?
Answer:
(a) We take arms against each other when we decide to harm each other.
(b) ‘Human earth’ is the human world that is comprised of all countries, races, cultures and creeds.
(c) We defile or pollute the human earth by using arms and ammunition to cause widespread death and destruction.
Poetic Devices – Additional
1. Beneath all uniforms, a single body breathes
Like ours: the land our brothers walk upon
(a) What is the figure of speech employed ?
(b) Pick out the alliterated words.
Answer:
(a) ‘Like ours’ – similie
(b) Beneath – body – breathes are alliterated words.
2. Our hells of fire and dust outrage the innocence
(a) What is the figure of speech used in this line?
Answer:
Metaphor is used here in the words ‘Hells of fire’. Hells are compared to fire.
3. They, too, aware of sun and air and water,
Are fed by peaceful harvests, by war’s long winter starv’d.
(a) What is the poetic device used here?
Answer:
winter – starv’d is the “transferred epithet” used here. Winter is not starved here, but the people . are starved.
4. Remember, no men are strange, no countries foreign
Remember, no men are foreign, and no countries strange.
(a) What is the figure of speech used in these lines?
Answer:
Repetition. It emphasizes the core message of the oneness of mankind.
Based on your understanding of the poem complete the following by choosing the appropriate words/phrases given in brackets:
This poem is about the (i) ______ of all men. The subject of the poem is the (ii) ______race, despite of the difference in colour, caste, creed, religion, country etc. All human beings are same. We walk on the (iii) ______and we will be buried under it. Each and everyone of us are related to the other. We all are born same and die in the same way. We may wear different uniforms like (iv) ‘ ______’ during wars the opposing side will also have the same (v) ______ like ours. We as human do they same labour with (vi) ______and look at the world with the (vii)______. Waging war against others as they belong to a different country is like attacking our own selves. It is the (viii) ______ we impair. We all share the same (ix) ______. We are similar to each other. So the poet concludes that we shouldn’t have wars as it is(x) ________ to fight against us.
Answer:
(i) brotherhood
(ii) unity of human
(iii) same land
(iv) language
(v) dreams and aspirations
(vi) our hand
(vii) same eye
(viii) breathing body
(ix) human earth
(x) unnatural
Based on your understanding of the poem answer the following questions in a paragraph of about 100-150 words.
Question 1.
What is the central theme of the poem ‘No men are foreign’?
Answer:
The central theme of the poem is about the oneness of mankind. Though there are many countries, races, colour, languages, castes and creeds all are human beings. We occupy the same land and die in the same land. Hands work hard, eyes witness the same life, we are all fed by peaceful harvests. Attacking others who are neighbours in the same planet is nothing but harming one self. Hence, no land is foreign, no man is a stranger.
Question 2.
The poem ‘No men are foreign’ has a greater relevance in todays world. Elucidate.
Answer:
The poem “No men are foreign’ has a greater relevance in today’s world that witnesses major disaster due to internal conflicts and external factors that destroy the peace of nations of the world. Factors like racism, terrorism etc., alienate people to the extent of ruining places and civilizations that had taken centuries of hard work to be built. The very fact that once we consider the entire world as a single living place for all who exist on it. It becomes a commonplace and people will stay united understanding the truth that all are human with the same dreams and aspirations.
Paragraph Question & Answer – Additional
Question 1.
How does the title sum up the theme of the poem ‘No men are Foreign’?
Answer:
‘No men are Foreign’ is an apt title for the poem, because it deals with the theme of universal brotherhood. Right through the poem, the poet talks about the concept of universal brotherhood ‘ and peaceful co-existence. He insists that we should not give any place for any kind of prejudice. He emphasises the fact that all human beings are naturally the same. The divisions based on nation, caste, colour, creed or religion are baseless. Every human will respond positively to love. The poet James Kirkup, has beautifully conveyed these ideas through the title of the poem “No Men are Foreign”. He gives a strong message to stop all wars and look upon humanity as a unified entity.
No Men Are Foreign By James Falconer Kirkup
James Falconer Kirkup (1918 – 2009), born James Harold Kirkup, is an English poet, translator and travel writer. He wrote over 30 books, including autobiographies, novels and plays. He wrote his first book of poetry, “The Drowned Sailor” which was published in 1947. He left England in a 1956 to live and work in Europe, America and the Far East. He settled in Japan for 30 years, lecturing in English literature at several universities. He has won many awards such as Atlantic-Rockefeller award, (1950), Japan P.E.N. Club International literary prize, (1965), Batchelder award, for translation, (1968), Keats prize, (1974), Scott-Moncrieff prize for translation, (1993). He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1962. “No men are Foreign” was published in the year 1966. ‘
No Men Are Foreign Key Points
- This poem tells us why we must not hate our brothers and sisters who live in different countries of the world.
- No man or country is strange.
- Beneath die various colours of uniform, it is the same human body.
- The earth that every human walks on is the same.
- The otherS hround the world depend on the same air, water and sun.
- They eat out of peaceful harvests and are starved during war.
- Their hands have the same lines of hard work.
- Their eyes see, sleep and wake like ours.
- Like everyone else the strength can be overcome by loving each other.
- The common life is understood by everyone.
- We must remember if we try to hate others it means we hate ourselves.
- When we try to use weapons against others we are ruining human beings and earth.
- Fire and dust destroy the purity of air that belongs to all.
- So we must remember that no one is our enemy or foreigner and no country is a strange land on this earth.
No Men Are Foreign Summary
James Falconer Kirkup reminds us that all the people who belong to the earth are similar and share the brotherhood of men. Though the colours of uniform are different, it is the same human body. All walk on the same earth, see the same sun, inhale air and use water the same way. They feed by peaceful harvests or starve during war. Their eyes see the same things while awake and shut when asleep. Everywhere strength is overcome by true love, shown towards each other. When one is taught hatred it means hating oneself, cheat ourselves. When we hold weapons against each other, we are ruining the earth. The painful hell of fire and anger and dust spoils the pure air that is inhaled by all of us on earth. No one on earth is a stranger to anyone else and no country an enemy or foreign land.
No Men Are Foreign Explanation of Poetic Lines
Line No. 1 – 4
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.
Explanation:
The poet tells that men are not different from each other simply on the basis that they come from separate countries. They may fight for the army of their country, but underneath the uniform, they are all similar. Our opponent army’s soldiers live and breathe just as we do. Most fights between two countries result from disputes over a piece of land. However, all the land on earth is the same. Moreover, every man will have to lie in the earth at one time or the other. That is, all men have to die and all pieces of land are potential graveyards in which they fight.
Line No. 5 – 8
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.
Explanation:
The poet gives further evidence of the unity of man. He says that those who live in other countries also depend on the same sun, air and water for their survival. They too have seen peace and war. During a peaceful period, they have a good harvest and food products. Similarly during the war period, just like a long winter, availability of food will be in scarce, resulting in famine. They look just like us and are descended from the same ancestors as we are.
Line No. 9 – 12
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.
Explanation:
The poet urges us to keep in mind the fact that our opponents sleep and wake like we do, and follow a similar type of lifestyle. Every human being has an inner resource of strength that he can use to help his fellow beings. However, that resource can only be unlocked by following the path of love. When we love someone then only we stand up for them. That is why it is necessary for every man to love his fellow beings without creating divisions amongst them. Despite the differences between various nations, there is one thing that they all have in common. The common people live the same kind of life everywhere. Therefore, we can recognise the presence of that life no matter where we travel in this wide world.
Line No. 13 – 15
Let us remember, whenever we are told
To hate our brothers, it is ourselves
That we shall dispossess, betray, condemn.
Explanation:
The poet disagrees against the efforts of military and religious groups that encourage us to wage wars. Those groups are misguiding their own people. They are asking their followers to hate their opponents without realising that they are our own brothers. It is a form of self-destruction. Any hatred that we show on any member of the human race is equivalent to our betrayal towards the people. If we kill people of any other country, we are endangering human beings as a whole and their survival on earth.
Line No. 16 – 17
Remember, we who take arms against
each other
It is the human earth that we defile.
Explanation:
The poet specifies the impacts of war. If we, the guardians of the earth, were to die out as a result of the war, then there would no one left to take care of the home that our ancestors had passed down to us. We would then have nothing to pass down to our future generations.
Line No. 18 – 20
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.
Explanation:
The poet compares wartime with hell. In war as in hell, there is fire and smoke everywhere. As a result of this, the earth is becoming poisoned. The very air that we breathe is becoming impure and will not be able to sustain human life for much longer. That is why the poet encourages us not to wage war on our fellow men thinking they are foreigners and that their countries are unlike our own.
No Men Are Foreign Glossary
betray – disloyal
condemn – express complete disapproval
defile – damage the purity or appearance
dispossess – deprive someone of a possession
foreign – a country or language other than one’s own
innocence – not guilty of a crime
labour – hardwork
outrage – extremely strong reaction of anger, shock
recognise – know someone having come across earlier