 | |
| Author | Jackie Kay |
|---|---|
| Country | Scotland |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Identity [1] |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Publisher | Bloodaxe Books |
Publication date | 27 October 2007 |
| Pages | 224 [2] |
| ISBN | 9781852247775 |
Darling: New & Selected Poems is a poetry book by Jackie Kay. [3] It was first published by Bloodaxe Books on 27 October 2007. [4] Gap Year, Keeping Orchids, Lucozade, My Grandmother's Houses, Old Tongue, and Whilst Leila Sleeps are all National 5 Scottish texts. [5] [6]
The poem describes Jackie Kay and her son Matthew's bond. [7] Her son leaves her to travel and be more independent. [8]
The poem describes Jackie Kay's first meeting with her birth mother. [9] The orchids symbolise the difficulty of their relationship. [10]
The poem describes a daughter visiting her mother in hospital. [11] The daughter brings her mother gifts such as Lucozade, which was commonly given to sick people. [12] Her mother refuses to take the gifts. The poem ends with the daughter removing the symbols of illness and in turn lifting the burden of illness. [13]
The poem describes different houses that the narrator associates with her grandmother. [14] It gives insight into the narrator's childhood and her grandmother's personality. [15]
The poem describes the experience of losing your native tongue. [16] The narrator wanders if they will ever say the words they used to say again. [17] The poem includes Scottish words and phrases such as “eedyit”, “dreich” and “shut yer geggie”. [18]
The poem describes a mother and daughter who are fleeing from “men in plain suits”. [19] It can be inferred that they are immigrants facing deportation. [20]
Fiona Sampson, reviewing the book for The Guardian , called it "satisfyingly compendious" and said that one of Jackie Kay's greatest strengths is the "way she locates individual experience in the collective". [21]
Out of over 100 ratings, the poem as of June 2021 has a rating of 4.01/5 stars on Goodreads . [22]
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