Question

1. How does the poet James Kirkup prove that no men are foreign? How far is he able to convince his reader about it?

Answer 1

This free verse poem portrays an intimidating message of peace. The poet urges to stop all the wars in the world and see the world, or say humanity as a single unified body. Moreover, he talks of the ordinary activities that every being of this world performs irrespective of his place of birth, complexion, race, or religion. Elaborately, he says we consist of a similar soul, our eyes wake and sleep regularly- same as others. Further, if one considers the other individual as a different person then he must also hate himself in the same way as he hates others, because features and thoughts that make us human are all similar. To end his statement and prove his point, he states that all live under the same sky created by one God, so it must be accepted that we all are not dissimilar but one.

He presents this ideology through the utilization of multiple literary devices such as the following which help the poet to forward his message that no men must be alienated.

• Alliteration, which refers to the reappearance of consonant hum at the start of consecutive expressions and within words. Examples are: "a single body breathes" (sound of 'b') and "Or sleep, and strength" (sound of 's').
• Metaphors help the author to relate and establish connection within different abstract features of two objects or actions. Examples that can be cited are: "Beneath all uniforms, a single body breathes" and "war’s long winter starv’ d."
• Repetition is another technique applied in the poem. However, there is no rhyme scheme but repeating the word "remember" multiple time makes the poem musical when read a whole.

All these devices included in the write-up are here to persuade the readers and mentally affect them on thinking about everyone as one- no strangers, no immigrants. Moreover, he is able to easily convince his audience because of the applied diction, style, and tone.

Answer 2

In the poem ‘No Men are Foreign’, the poet James Kirkup tries to convince his readers that all humans are same irrespective of borders.

All humans enjoy the sun’s heat, drink water, eat food and wake up.

All humans have two hands and two eyes.

When they fight with each other, they actually fight with themselves.

Your enemies are also humans and you have no reason to destroy them.

Yes, the poet is very much successful in convincing his readers that no men are foreign.