CBSE Class 9 English Beehive No Men Are Foreign Poem Summary and Notes

CBSE Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 6 contains a poem titled No Men Are Foreign. The poem is written by James Kirkup. Students can find the CBSE Class 9 English Beehive No Men Are Foreign poem summary and explanatory notes in this article. By going through CBSE Class 9 English Notes, students get the detailed meaning of the poem. They can refer to the notes and summary to have an overview of the poem during revision. It will save them time and help them score high marks on the exam.

CBSE Class 9 English Beehive No Men Are Foreign Poem Summary

No Men Are Foreign is a poem which promotes the concept of universal brotherhood. The poet says that everyone in this world is the same. All men are equal. We may belong to different countries and speak different languages, but above all, we are first human. Our basic needs are the same. We eat, breathe, live and die in the same way. The poem conveys a beautiful message of togetherness and peace. It warns us not to fight or hate each other.

CBSE Class 9 English Beehive No Men Are Foreign Poem Explanation Notes

We have provided below the poem and its detailed explanation for students’ easy understanding.

No Men Are Foreign Poem and Explanation

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 starv’d.

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, 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

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.

BY JAMES KIRKUP

The poet addresses the readers and reminds them that no men are strangers and no country is foreign. He says no one is different from the other. He wishes to remove the borders of the countries so that everyone will be free to move around. Under the uniform, we all have the same body, which breathes in the same manner. The land on which men of other countries walk is similar to the other. The earth is one, and we all will be buried after death on the same earth.

In the second stanza, the poet says that people from other countries also have the same Sun, air and water. It means that God does not differentiate between people and treats everyone equally. At the time of peace, everyone eats food and enjoys their life. On the contrary, they suffer during the war and long winters. The poet iterates the fact that everyone has seen both good and bad days in their life. All of us have the same hands, and we all work hard to earn our livelihood.

Here, the poet says that the people of other countries have eyes similar to us that wake and sleep. They also have the strength that can be won by love. Everywhere on the land, life is universally the same. It means that we have similarity in our body parts, and it functions in a similar way. If we can recognise it, then we will understand that all human beings share the same kind of traits.

In the fourth stanza, the poet says that whenever we are told to hate a person of another country and think of him as our enemy, then we are depriving, cheating and condemning ourselves. He further says that we should not pick up weapons to fight against each other. We should not fight amongst ourselves, but live in harmony.

In the last stanza, the poet laments that human beings are spoiling the earth with their hate. They are destroying their innocence with the fire of war. The smoke which comes out through the weapons fills the air with dust. He further adds that the air which is present everywhere is ours. We should not make it dirty with our feelings of hatred. We should remember that no men are foreign, and no countries are strangers. We all are equal and the same.

We hope the summary and explanatory notes must have helped students to understand the CBSE Class 9 English Beehive No Men Are Foreign poem thoroughly. Students can also go through the essay on women empowerment and essay on Independence Day to prepare for the writing section of the English exam.