The
storyteller
Poem by Liz Lochhead
Analysis by Charlie
The poem
1.she sat down
16.Dishwater or tasty was her soup.
2.at the scoured table
15.To tell the stories was her work.
3.in the swept kitchen
17.It was like spinning,
4.beside the dresser with its cracked delft.
18.gathering thin air to the singlest strongest thread.
5.And every last crumb of daylight was salted away.
19.Night in she’d have us waiting,
6No one could say the stories were useless
20.held breath, for the ending we knew by heart.
7.for as the tongue clacked
21.And at first light
8.five or forty fingers stitched
(anaphora)
22.as the women stirred themselves to build the fire
9.corn was grated from the husk
23.as the peasant’s feet felt for clogs
10.patchwork was pieced
24.as thin grey washed over flat fields
11.or the darning was done.
25.the stories dissolved in the whorl of the ear
26.but they
12.Never the one to slander her shiftless.
13. Daily sloven or spotless no matter whether
27.hung themselves upside down in the sleeping heads of the
children
28.till they flew again in the storytellers night.
Summary
Storyteller by Liz Lochhead depicts a woman whose value lies in
her storytelling, not her household chores. Her tales attract
listeners, providing comfort and escape from daily hardships. The
poem highlights the power of stories in shaping lives.
Contextual
background
The contextual background is rooted in the rich tradition of oral storytelling.
The author comes from a place where storytelling is very important (she is a Scottish poet and lived in a time and place where modern
entertainment wasn't available.
1970’s feminist movement was one of the events that inspired her to write this poem.
Scottish literary renaissance was also happening at this time. It was a 20th century movement reviving Scottish culture,
language, and literature.
This poem was written during a time that the author (Liz Lochhead) was deeply engaged in exploring themes of
community, storytelling, and feminism.
Setting
The poem is placed in a
dimly lit room, most likely a
shelter or bedroom.
The reader is seated
beside a dresser, telling a
story to an audience who
are completing tasks as the
story is told
Symbolism
There are many metaphors and similes in the poem. Some include:
Spinning yarn: creating something (a story) out of seemingly nothing.(words)
Bats: The stories are described as hanging upside down in the children’s minds during the day, much like bats do
when they sleep. At night, the stories “fly again” around the children’s mind and imagination.
Light and dark: light represents knowledge and understanding, but the dark is where the stories have their full
effect, casting mystery and shadows on reality. But on the contrary, the poem uses imagery to create a cozy,
warm atmosphere where the storytellers words are the only source of light in the dark winter.
Themes
The Power of Stories: The poem highlights how stories are essential to daily life
and have a lasting impact on those who hear them.
Community and Connection: The act of storytelling brings people together,
creating a sense of community.
The Role of Women: The poem places a lowly female domestic worker at the
center, highlighting her importance through her storytelling.
Tradition and Continuity: The poem evokes a sense of timelessness, capturing
a period before modern entertainment.
Form
The poem is written in free verse, meaning it doesn’t
follow a specific rhyme scheme or pattern.
It is divided into 4 stanzas of varying lengths.
The free verse form allows the author to focus on the
flow of the language and imagery used in her poem.
Uses enjambment a total of 17 times through out the poem.
Analysis stanza 1
• she sat down
• at the scoured table
• in the swept kitchen
• beside the dresser1 with its cracked delft.
• And every last crumb of daylight was salted away.
The speaker begins by describing the setting. The storyteller, referred to as ‘she’, sits down at a
table in the clean and scoured kitchen next to a dresser that’s covered in cracked deft, a kind of
old Japanese pottery. To make the scene more vivid, the speaker also depicts the sun setting. It’s
the last few seconds of the day before it’s nighttime. The fact that the word ‘she’ is not capital,
means that this routine happens nightly.
Stanza 2
• No one could say the stories were useless
• for as the tongue clacked
• five or forty fingers stitched
• corn was grated from the husk
• patchwork was pieced
• or the darning was done.
In the second stanza, the speaker says that everyone agrees that the stories are important. The stories themselves
are valuable.. The next lines list out what those listening to the stories were doing. Everyone was doing a specific
kind of work. Some were stitching, some were cooking, and some were cleaning. These daily tasks are interwoven
with the storytelling. This implies that storytelling is just as important as any of these acts the speaker is
describing.
Stanza 3
• Never the one to slander her shiftless.
• Daily sloven or spotless no matter whether
• Dishwater or tasty was her soup.
• To tell the stories was her work.
• It was like spinning, gathering thin air to the singlest strongest thread.
• Night in she’d have us waiting,
• held breath,
• for the ending we knew by heart.
• The storyteller the author describes was someone who didn’t care about judgments
and concerns about her appearance. The poem indicates that she had more
important things to focus on. The poem says her cooking wasn’t great, but was
unrelated, in comparison to her story's. The author describes how storytelling was
more than a way to pass the time; it was an art, and she was the artist spinning
thread. She turns nothing into something important and useful.
• Every night, those who were there to listen to her stories would wait until she was
ready. Although “we knew the ending by heart” they were still filled with joy and
anticipation while waiting for her to start speaking.
Stanza 4
And at first light
as the women stirred themselves to build the fire
as the peasant’s feet felt for clogs
as thin grey washed over flat fields
the stories dissolved in the whorl of the ear
but they hung themselves upside down
In the sleeping heads of the children
till they flew again
in the storytellers night.
*as, as, as, are examples of anaphora
• In the last stanza of the poem, the author takes readers to the next morning
when everyone is waking up to start a new day. The poet uses anaphora in
these lines to create a sense of repetition. The same things happen in the
same way every morning.
Structure
• Irregular structure
• No consistent length or pattern or rhyme scheme of the stanzas
• Narrative style, tells a story
• Uses lots of imagery and metaphors.
language
• Lyrical and Figurative Language: The author employs lyrical and figurative language to
emphasize the importance of storytelling.
• Imagery: the poem is filled with imagery, such as the stories being compared to bats, and the
storyteller waving stories out of thread.
• Alliteration: the repeated use of the ‘s’ sounds, such as ‘she sat’, ‘scoured,’ and ‘swept’, adds a
musical like tone to the poem and enhances the rhythm and flow.
• Scottish language and archaic words: the use of Scottish dialect and archaic language (delft,
dresser), add a sense of authenticity and timelessness.
• Personification: the author gives human qualities to non-human elements, such as when she
describes the stories as having the ability to “captivate” and “enthrall” the listeners, making
the stories seem almost alive.
glossary
• Scoured- forcefully scrubbed or cleaned
• Delft- a Japanese type of earthen pottery
• Salted away- discretely store or hide.
• Clacked- spoke, talked
• Darned- mending a hole in a fabric with yarn and a needle
• Slander- false statements
• As, as, as,- anaphora: repetition of a word or phrase ultiple times, usually at the
beginning of a line, used in this sense to imply that the same thing happened every
morning.
• Whorl- a spiral