Summary

The poem ‘no men are foreign’ is written by the poet James Kirkup. In this poem, the poet elaborates on how all human beings existing on this planet are identical. We all have the same necessities like water, air, sun, clothes, etc. We share the same land and even after death we all get buried in the same land. Additionally, we all have the same monotonous life- wake up, work, and sleep. Contrary, we still live by hating and degrading each other by every possible means.  

         Initially, the poet states that ‘no men are strange and no country is foreign’. So, the poet strives to remove all the borders from the earth’s surface and introduce liberty to go anywhere. Since, we all are the same creation of God, so why are we differentiated by the human-made borders. The poet inferred ‘soldiers’ as our brothers because we all share the same ‘Mother Earth’. In the next part, he talks about the people of other countries. According to him, we confront and differentiate on the basis of religion and cultural diversity, but God never differentiated. God nurtured all of us with equal air, water and sunlight. 

          Before the war, everyone lived simply by farming. Life continued until the war happened for domination. We all suffered and starved despite possessing the similarity. When we are escorted to hate other countries, we get blindfolded and cheat ourselves. The poet suggests to stay away from such negativity in life. When a war commences, the earth is filled by blood as a war involves fire, death and bloodshed. This makes our ‘Mother Earth’ impure and pollutes air and water. Lastly, the poet writes the first line in reverse saying remember, no men are foreign, and no countries are strange.