British poet Elizabeth Jennings's "The Enemies" describes a city that at first welcomes a band of new arrivals: strangers who arrive in town one night without explanation. But that welcome only lasts a day. Soon, the citizens are fretting about who these strangers are and what they want. In turning against the strangers, they turn against their friends, too, trusting no one. This mysterious story suggests that it might often be difficult for people to stay open to the new and strange. "The Enemies" was first collected in Jennings's Collected Poems (1987).

• Read the full text of “The Enemies”

• “The Enemies” Summary

• “The Enemies” Themes

  • 

    The Fear of the Unknown

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-20

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Enemies”

  • Lines 1-6

    Last night they ...
    ... through the land.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 7-12

    Now in the ...
    ... hearth and field.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-16

    Yet all the ...
    ... hands accepting hands;

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 17-20

    Each ponders, "Better ...
    ... my own house."

    

    

    

    

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• “The Enemies” Symbols

  • 

    The Strangers

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “Last night they came across the river and / Entered the city.”
    • Lines 4-6: “what the men had come to take / Or what strange tongue they spoke / Or why they came so suddenly through the land.”
    • Line 8: “the swift and dark invasion”
    • Lines 9-10: “not one stranger told / A reason for his coming”
    • Lines 17-20: “"Better hide myself in case / Those strangers have set up their homes in minds / I used to walk in. Better draw the blinds / Even if the strangers haunt in my own house."”

• “The Enemies” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Extended Metaphor

    

    

    

    

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    Where extended metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 14-15: “Old friends / Close up the candid looks upon their face.”
    • Lines 17-20: “Each ponders, "Better hide myself in case / Those strangers have set up their homes in minds / I used to walk in. Better draw the blinds / Even if the strangers haunt in my own house."”

  • Parallelism

    

    

    

    

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    Where parallelism appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “what”
    • Line 5: “Or what”
    • Line 6: “Or why”
    • Line 14: “Man meeting man”
    • Line 16: “hands accepting hands”
    • Line 17: “Better hide myself”
    • Line 19: “Better draw the blinds”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “and / Entered”
    • Lines 2-3: “awake / With”
    • Lines 7-8: “filled / With”
    • Lines 9-10: “told / A”
    • Lines 10-11: “intrusion / Was”
    • Lines 14-15: “friends / Close”
    • Lines 17-18: “case / Those”
    • Lines 18-19: “minds / I”

  • Sibilance

    

    

    

    

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    Where sibilance appears in the poem:

    • Line 4: “asking”
    • Line 5: “strange,” “spoke”
    • Line 6: “so suddenly”
    • Line 8: “stories,” “swift”
    • Line 9: “say,” “stranger”
    • Line 11: “devastation”
    • Line 12: “Peace,” “still”
    • Line 13: “city,” “place”
    • Line 14: “speaks,” “cautiously,” “friends”
    • Line 15: “Close,” “looks,” “face”
    • Line 16: “hands accepting hands”
    • Line 17: “ponders,” “case”
    • Line 18: “strangers,” “set,” “homes,” “minds”
    • Line 20: “strangers,” “house”

• “The Enemies” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Band
  • Tongue
  • Devastation
  • Hearth
  • Candid
  • (Location in poem: Line 3: “They entertained the band”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Enemies”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “The Enemies” Speaker

• “The Enemies” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “The Enemies”

• More “The Enemies” Resources

  • External Resources

    • A Brief Biography — Learn more about Jennings's life.

    • An Interview with Jennings — Read an interview in which Jennings discusses her work and her life.

    • More of Jennings's Work — Visit the Poetry Archive to read (and hear!) more of Jennings's poetry.

    • Jennings's Legacy — Read Jennings's obituary to learn more about how her work was received.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Elizabeth Jennings

    • Absence

    • In Praise of Creation

    • One Flesh

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