A Song of Glasgow Town: The Collected Poems of Marion Bernstein

Although her reputation now rests on her poems on women’s rights, the Glasgow poet Marion Bernstein (1846 – 1906) recognised little distinction between gender equality and social equality. She had no patience for those who claimed privilege over others. She valued her fellow poets, many of whom were from the working classes, and she populated her poems with an array of ordinary citizens: postmen, riveters, fishermen, street musicians, even a victim of intemperance. In her enlightened poem ‘Human Rights’ she advocated universal equality and gave her vision of a world run by women: ‘We’d give fair play, let come what might, / To he or she folk, black or white, / And haste the reign of Human Right.’ A Song of Glasgow Town contains all of Bernstein’s 198 published poems, along with a detailed introduction to her life and work, and extensive notes explaining the background to each poem. These verses provide a fascinating insight into Glasgow in the late Victorian age, at a time of unprecedented social and economic change.

Reviews of A Song of Glasgow Town: The Collected Poems of Marion Bernstein

"Marion Bernstein has a good claim to being the greatest Scottish feminist we've never heard of … Her voice – neglected for so long – is just the kind we need to hear as we consider the writers who invented Scotland, and the hopes we have for our country in the future." – Scottish Review of Books 9/4, November 2013