How does the poem "No Men are Foreign" by James Kirkup suggest all people are the same?

In the poem "No Men Are Foreign," the poet, James Kirkup, emphasizes that people are alike, no matter their nationality. In stanza one, the poet tells us that "no men are strange, no countries foreign." All people are united by being a part of the human race. Also, countries are united by being a part of the same earth. In fact, everyone is a citizen of the world, no matter where one lives.

In stanza two, the theme of unity continues as Kirkup tells the reader that all humanity has the same eyes. That is, we all have eyes that wake and sleep. All humans have the same needs no matter where one lives. Again, a parallel is drawn with all lands having unity: "In every land is common life."

In stanza three, the poet's message shifts to remind us not to hate our brothers. As well, if we do go to war with each other, he warns us, "It is the human earth that we defile." The poet ends with the repetition of his message that "no men are foreign and no countries strange." Indeed, we are all a part of humanity and live in the same world and must honor one another.

How does the poem "No Men are Foreign" by James Kirkup suggest all people are the same?

Kirkup accomplishes the idea of emphasizing the common links between all human beings in highlighting the humanity that all of us share.  This vision is one that stresses a certain "oneness" in the human condition. The idea of everyone being able to feel pain, experience life in the same way, endure the same biological or scientific realities are all examples that Kirkup uses to emphasize that we are all the same.  The realities of death are the same for all human beings and our lives are governed by the same scientific principles.  In this light, the poem suggests that when we shed the arbitrary distinctions of "foreign" or "native," conditions that are imposed by individuals, we see that we have more in common with one another that transcends the temporary and human made labels that have been applied to one another.

In the poem "No Men Are Foreign" by James Kirkup, how can different countries represent one people?

In reading the poem, I think that there is a definite stress to seek to eliminate the idea of boundaries that divide and set one individual or group of individuals against another.  I would suggest that this is something to be avoided, it does not discount the idea that diversity in all of its forms is a good thing.  Intellectual, spiritual, moral, psychological, and even temperamental diversity helps to reflect the complex nature of human beings.  I am not entirely willing to embrace a view where all notions of diversity are eliminated for fear of differences.  It seems to me that the challenge is to ensure that diversity is managed in a setting where disagreements and differences are not wedges that represent being violently disagreeable, to paraphrase Dr. King.

In the poem "No Men Are Foreign" by James Kirkup, how can different countries represent one people?

The following link takes you to an enotes question and answer about this poem. I would have to agree with the other posters that this poem wants us to look at each other as individuals and not members of a foreign country or even from other political or religious views.

http://www.enotes.com/lit/q-and-a/what-summary-poem-no-men-foreign-written-by-james-115649

In the poem "No Men Are Foreign" by James Kirkup, how can different countries represent one people?

I read the poem and got the impression that it wants us to consider all peoples of the earth as one humanity, regardless of nationalities, languages, skin color, creeds, or religious beliefs.  It calls for universal brotherhood and an end to all the wars, hatred, and bloodshed that has gone on for centuries and is still going on.  And what's wrong with that?  I don't know how it will ever be accomplished or that it can ever be accomplished, but it is a wonderful dream, isn't it?

In the poem "No Men Are Foreign" by James Kirkup, how can different countries represent one people?

I haven't read this poem, but I am reminded of a quote which I have heard all my life regarding people other than white Anglo-Saxons like myself--"beneath the skin color, we all bleed red."  Just studying basic anatomy, we notice that no matter a person's nationality, every person has the same basic physical makeup (making exceptions for disfiguring issues, accidents, etc.)  One head with two eyes, a nose, eyebrows, mouth, and two ears; a torso with two arms, two hands, and ten fingers; two legs with two feet attached and ten toes.  Inside, blood is red, and everyone has the same organs--heart, lungs, liver, sexual organs ( specific to being male or female), muscle tissue, arteries, veins, nerves, etc.

Shouldn't this be enough to prove that we are all one people--we just identify ourselves with certain countries, regions, languages, religions, groups, etc.  We set up the boundaries much like fences built to keep our "kind" in and the "others" out.  Sad, when you think of it that way. 

In the poem "No Men Are Foreign" by James Kirkup, how can different countries represent one people?

#2 is correct in drawing attention to how the poem stresses the artificial divides that we as humans have built up between us and how these man-made barriers often make us forget the common, shared humanity that unites us all. In a sense the poem is arguing that it is forgetting this fact that makes so much cruelty, anger and suffering possible, for the existence of countries means that we define people from different countries as being "separate" and "different" to us, therefore making them lesser than us. This poem reminds us of the shared bonds that surpass such superficial, man-made constructs.

In the poem "No Men Are Foreign" by James Kirkup, how can different countries represent one people?

Most of the poem is telling you how this can be the case.  It is telling you that countries are artificial.  It is saying that in all the ways that matter, we are all the same.  Look in the poem and you will see a number of ways in which we are the same in Kirkup's opinion.

For example, all people walk upon land -- the dirt is essentially the same -- and all people will end their lives by dying.  All people, he says, want to love in the way that we want to.  All people wake up by opening their eyes.

What he is saying is that in all the ways that really matter, people are all the same so the fact that we are from different countries does not (or should not) matter -- we are all the same.