‘Bed’
by Jackie Kay
The Title: ‘Bed’
Dictionary definition: a piece of furniture upon
which or within which a person sleeps, rests, or
stays when not well.
What connotations does a bed have for you?
The Title: ‘Bed’
What a bed is usually vs.
What it is for the speaker
• Comfort
• Restriction
• ‘Prison’
• Safety
• Relaxation
• Haven
‘Bed’
What is it about?
A dramatic monologue told through the
voice of the elderly female persona who is
bed-ridden. Written in Scots, the poem
explores themes of dependency and
aging.
Dramatic Monologue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KFVL
WX7eEY
Watch the
following
clip.
Dramatic
Monologue:
also known as a persona
poem. Shares many characteristics with a theatrical
• The poem
and
the video
arethere
about
monologue:
an audience
is implied;
is no very
dialogue;
and the poet
speaks
through
an assumed
different
subjects,
but
they
use
a similar
voice—a character, a fictional identity, or a persona.
technique.
• What things do they have in common? (think
about presentation rather than content)
• What effect does the clip have on the
audience? How is this different than the
poem?
First Thoughts: ‘Bed’
In pairs, discuss these questions:
• What are your initial thoughts on the poem?
• What language techniques does the writer use?
• What is she trying to say by using these
techniques?
‘Bed’: The Important Stuff
• Uses the dramatic monologue form to convey the stark realities of
extreme old age.
• The speaker is an elderly bed-bound woman, completely dependent
on her daughter for her care.
• Uses colloquial Scots which is direct, expressive and bleakly
humorous.
• Honestly describes the physical effects of old age and the guilt and
frustration she feels.
• She has become the child.
• Tone changes to reflection and contemplation in the final two
stanzas. She thinks about the inevitability of death and what it will
mean to her daughter.
heavy
problem/
weight
on her
life
written as if someone was speaking
She is that guid tae me so she is
an Am a burden tae her, I know Am ur. alliteration
shows her
Stuck here in this big blastit bed
frustration
year in, year oot, ony saint wuid complain.
repetition shows the length of time – feels like forever
sense of martyrdom
humiliation/indignity
of being cared for
There’s things she has tae dae fir me
A’ wish she didnae huv tae dae.
Am her wean noo, wey ma great tent o’ nappy,
an champed egg in a cup, an mashed tattie.
role reversal
– she is the
child/cared for
food of an invalid is unexciting and mundane
metaphor
continues
role
reversal
enjambment
role reversal continued
emphasises
her
Aw the treats A’ used tae gie her,
bewilderment
she’s gieing me. A’ dinny ken whit happened.
over the
change
We dinny talk any mair. Whether it’s jist
the blethers ha been plucked oot o’ us
small talk – loss of intimacy
looks
vulnerable/
ugly/unnat
ural
prepared
for death
like feather they have been
(violently) removed
an Am here like some skinny chicken,
ma skin aw bubbles and dots and spots,
loose flap noo (an yet as a young wuman
A’ took pride in ma guid smooth skin.)
extended into
a simile
list of
ailments
shows how
ill she is
contrast shows age as bad and youth as good
everything she has
youth =
vibrant
(bubbling)
age = going
off the boil
passive
she can look,
but not
communicate
Aw A’ dae is sit and look oot this windae.
A’ve seen hale generations graw up time passing
an simmer doon fray this same windae – sameness/pre
that’s no seen a lick o’ paint fir donkeys. dictability
time passing: window as a symbol for the speaker – aging and
uncared for
enjambment – focus on
end of family line
The Kerrs have disappeared, but the last
Campbells ur still here so Am telt – 2nd hand info
feels like
tho’ hauf the time A’ dinny believe her:
she is
A’ve no seen any Campbell in a lang time. being
mislead
limited view/perspective – looking for things and people she recognises
weak/insubst
antial like the
speaker
question isn’t
expecting a real
answer because
they know it
My dochter says ‘Awright mother?’
haunds me a thin broth or puried neep
an A say ‘Aye fine,’ an canny help also meaningless
the great heaving sigh that comes oot
enjambment to replicate
the sigh
protection
night –
age/on
coming
darkness
(death)
long vowel sounds to show the sigh
sharpness
of sounds
suggest
irritation
my auld loose lips, nor ma crabbit tut,
nor ma froon when A’ pu’ ma cardie tight
aroon ma shooders fir the night drawin in.
fear/vulnerability
Am jist biding time so am ur.
waiting for bed, also waiting to die
shift in tone more philosophical/reflective
life/death
Time is whit A’ hauld between
loose grip
the soft bits o’ ma thumbs,
the skeleton underneath ma night goon;
aw the while the glaring selfish moon
reminder of
death, no
skin just
bones
personification – probably the daughter; speaker feels she is ‘selfish’
but also a small amount of light/joy – enjambment shows conflicting emotions
how does she
want her to
feel?
lights up this drab wee prison.
A’ll be gone and how wull she feel?
No that Am saying A’ want her guilty.
No that Am saying Am no grateful.
bed/body is a
prison, but her
mind is still
active
she does want her to feel guilty
repetition of ‘no’ – suggests this is not what she actually feels, just how she ought
to feel
‘Bed’
• Themes of restriction, confinement and
imprisonment.
• Provides a voice from the margins – an invalided and
aged mother.
• Written in a Scots dialect, often reflecting the patterns
and inflections of real speech.
• Offers a perspective on the sad reality of her life, being
cared for at home by her daughter.
• HOWEVER, almost Shakespearean in its assessment of
time as a great destroyer of youth and beauty.
• Tone is ambiguous – unclear whether she is grateful
to or resentful of her daughter.
‘Bed’ Diary Entry
• Read the poem carefully.
• Translate the main ideas from the poem into
a Standard English diary extract.
• Begin the diary in the morning and end at
night. Use as many of the details from the
poem as you can.
– Should be at least three paragraphs long.
– First person – from the perspective of the old
woman.
Lost in Translation
• Is anything lost in the act of translation?
– Poetry to Prose
– Scots dialect to Standard English
Quote Hunt
Find:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
a word that shows the speaker feels like she is an inconvenience to her daughter
an expression that shows she is angry about her situation
three words or phrases that show she feels she is being treated like a child
three words or phrases that suggest she feels ugly
the four food stuffs mentioned in the poem
a word that tells us things have changed suddenly
an expression or word that tells us the mother and daughter don’t communicate
anymore
something mentioned that is aging and uncared for, besides the speaker
an expression that suggests the speaker isn’t certain her daughter tells her the truth
two expressions that suggest the mother and daughter find it difficult to talk about
anything important
an expression that suggests the mother’s unhappiness
an expression that tells us the mother feels cold
a word or expression that suggests death
a word that suggests the mother feels trapped by the room that she is in
a word or expression that suggests the mother is frail
four words that are repeated at the start of the last two lines.
1. Look at the poem as a whole and identify four of the main
ideas contained in the poem.
2. By referring to lines 1―20, show how word choice and
sentence structure give a description of the speaker’s
helplessness/reliance on others.
3. By referring to lines 16―40, explain one thing that we
learn about:
(a) the community the speaker lives in
(b) the speaker’s attitude to her life at this time.
4. Jackie Kay often explores relationships in her poems. Refer
briefly to the central relationship in this poem and go on to
discuss a central relationship in at least one other poem by
Jackie Kay.