ISBN: 978-1-915108-03-6
Date of Publication: 28 June 2022
This page is for the print book. If you would prefer an ePub digital version, the eBook can be found here.
Eden-Upon-Tay
Hae ye luved in the wey that we luved,
at the birk, by a quirk o oor hert,
when the mirk o the gloamin had sprang
fae balustrades we swung, tween the firth
an the glacier that loomed upon us;
hae ye, o, hae ye luved in that wey,
in the wey that Ah mean, aboon men
an their siccar defeat, aboon luvers
an their bidie-in despair o dawn;
in the wey that Ah mean, at the birk,
when we cuidnae abide by this warld
an abolisht its pride in a drouth
o messiahs an kisses ayebidin;
afore fear, an the rain, an the fall?
Paul Malgrati’s debut collection, Poèmes Écossais, delves into history to reflect on deep connections between time zones, conquest and loss, resistance and slaughter, war and peace, love and heartbreak. The politics of the past find more than just apocalyptic echoes in the present. Malgrati is French, and this is the first ever poetry collection in Scots written by someone who is not a native speaker of either Scots or English. It’s a fluent, musical and lyrical collection of poems that touch both the mind and heart.
"The ‘Auld Alliance’ is delightfully reimagined in this witty and ambitious collection, written in Scots, with more than a smattering of French. Paul Malgrati's poems are both fresh and formally adventurous, addressing socio-political concerns with a contemporary directness. There is a lively diction, and a carefully tuned lyricism at work. These poems will go on rewarding the reader through many successive readings." – Kathleen Jamie
"All the more welcome for being utterly unexpected, this book fizzes with passion and intellectual risk. Writing in a Scots that is tinged with French and, on occasion, Gaelic, Paul Malgrati has produced a first collection that (to use a phrase from one of its poems) offers a unique ‘eldritch panache’." – Robert Crawford
