No Men Are Foreign

AP- SCERT / NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English 

Beehive 

Poem 6  - No Men Are Foreign

Thinking about the Poem

1. (i) “Beneath all uniforms…” What uniforms do you think the poet is speaking about?

(ii) How does the poet suggest that all people on earth are the same?

 (i) The poet is speaking about the various kinds of dresses and outfits people wear.

(ii) The poet says that the uniforms (outfits) must be different but there is a human body beneath those uniforms and all of us will lie in the same earth when we die.

2. In stanza 1, find five ways in which we al are alike. Pick out the words.

The poet points out five ways in which we are all alike. Here are the words from the poem:

– no men are strange

– no countries foreign

– a single body breathes

– the land our brothers walk upon (the same planet)

– (the same earth) in which we all shall lie

3. How many common features can you find in stanza 2? Pick out the words.

Following are the common features which we can find in stanza 2:

– aware of sun and air and water – which means all humans have the need and awareness of the sun, water and air)

– fed by peaceful harvests – all humans are fed by peacefully harvested food and grains

– Their hands are ours, – they too have hands similar to ours

– in their lines we read a labour not different from our own – their hands also show the hard work and labor they perform

4. “…whenever we are told to hate our brothers…” When do you think this happens? Why? Who‘tells’ us? Should we do as we are told at such times? What does the poet say?

We are told to hate other humans from different countries, religions or social groups during wars and fights. These are told by selfish people who want wars and revenge instead of peace. They instil bad thoughts and feelings for other humans for their own benefit and cause riots. No, we should not do as told at such times. We should try to make the world more peaceful.

The poet says that we should always remember that the people we are told to fight against are also human beings like us. We are all the same. There is no foreign land and there are no ‘foreign’ men.