Storyteller (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE English Literature): Revision Note
Exam code: 0475 & 0092
‘Storyteller’
Here is a detailed guide to Liz Lochhead’s poem 'Storyteller’, from the Songs of Ourselves Volume 1 anthology. It includes:
Overview: a line-by-line “translation” of the poem’s meanings and interpretations
Writer’s methods: an exploration of Lochhead’s poetic choices and potential effects
Understanding the text: an exploration of the themes and ideas within Lochhead’s poem
Overview
In order to answer an essay question on any poem, it is important to understand what it is about. This section includes:
An overview of the poem
A “translation” of the poem, section-by-section
A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Liz Lochhead’s intention and message
‘Storyteller’ overview
The poem ‘Storyteller’, written by Liz Lochhead, describes a storyteller who is central to a community of peasant women. The poem celebrates the way listening to stories offers escape from the women’s work, and explores the social importance of stories and tales.
‘Storyteller’ breakdown
Lines 1-5
“she sat down
at the scoured table
in the swept kitchen
beside the dresser with its cracked delft.
And every last crumb of daylight was salted away.”
Translation
The omniscient (opens in a new tab) narrator introduces a woman (“she”) in a simple kitchen:
There are some “cracked delft” (Dutch plates) on the “dresser”
She has finished all her domestic chores:
The table has been scrubbed, the floor swept, and it is dark (“daylight” has been “salted away”)
Lochhead’s intentions
Lochhead begins an immersive description of a woman at the end of a day of domestic chores:
Lochhead uses metaphor (opens in a new tab) “crumbs of daylight” and “salted away” to convey the idea that the woman’s life revolves around domestic activities
The setting is a simple, yet well cleaned kitchen, introducing themes of domestic labour, as well as pride in one’s environment
Lines 6-11
“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 done.”
Translation
The speaker goes on to say that everyone agrees the stories have a purpose
The woman tells long stories (her tongue “clacked”), while other women prepare food (grate “corn”) or sew (“stitched” and “darning”)
Lochhead’s intentions
The enjambment (opens in a new tab) and alliteration (opens in a new tab) in these lines, such as “patchwork was pieced”, reflects long, passionate stories that help the women through dull work
Lochhead highlights the power of storytelling, and the sense of community between the women despite their many chores:
The tasks are combined with listening to the tales, implying the stories are just as important as the work
Lines 12-14
“Never the one to slander her shiftless.
Daily sloven or spotless no matter whether
dishwater or tasty was her soup.”
Translation
The speaker refers to how the storyteller told her stories while others worked, so she was “shiftless”
They did not mind, though, so they would not “slander” or speak ill of her
They liked the storyteller, whether untidy (“sloven”), and if the soup was “tasty” or like “dishwater”
Lochhead’s intentions
Lochhead emulates the excitement of the stories by portraying how all other matters were ignored, which shows a close community
The strange and ambiguous combination of words may reflect the way the storyteller crafts her stories
Lines 15-18
“To tell the stories was her work.
It was like spinning,
gathering thin air to the singlest strongest
thread. Night in”
Translation
The speaker says that telling stories was the woman’s job
When she tells stories it is as if she is spinning cotton (“thread”)
Lochhead’s intentions
The present tense verbs “spinning” and “gathering” creates a sense of immediacy, which helps to convey the excitement of the storytelling
The simile (opens in a new tab), “like spinning”, connotes to the suspenseful stories the storyteller tells:
The metaphor ‘spinning a yarn’ is a nineteenth century sailors' expression
It is thought to describe the custom of telling stories during dull work such as yarn-twisting or thread weaving
The metaphor “gathering air” may allude to the storyteller pausing for breath
Lines 19-20
“she’d have us waiting, held
breath, for the ending we knew by heart.”
Translation
The speaker adds that each night they would meet to hear the rest of the story, even though they often knew exactly how it would end
Lochhead’s intentions
Lochhead emphasises the intrigue of the stories, and how the storyteller builds anticipation that lasts all day, which is a welcome relief from the boring routine
The power of stories is conveyed in the emotive “we knew by heart”, alluding to how well loved they were, like fairytales
Lines 21-25
“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”
Translation
The speaker explains that the stories were told at night and then, in the morning, the women finally moved to make a fire and find their shoes (“clogs”)
The speaker describes the “grey” sky and “flat fields” outside the home
The night’s stories run around in their heads (“in the whorl of the ear”)
Lochhead’s intentions
Lochhead describes a cosy domestic scene with a “fire” and the alliterative “feet felt”
This is contrasted with the landscape outdoors, which is “thin grey” and “flat”
Despite the dullness and routine of their lives, the stories bring excitement
Lines 26-30
“but they
hung themselves upside down
in the sleeping heads of the children
till they flew again
in the storytellers night.”
Translation
The speaker compares the stories with bats who sleep “upside down” during the day
The stories are in the children’s minds, and they will be spoken of again at nighttime
Lochhead’s intentions
Lochhead’s poem ends with a metaphor that brings a sense of mystery to the stories:
The final line alludes to stories as bats flying at night, presenting stories as mysterious and exciting, but that disappear to a degree during the day
Reference to “sleeping children” may allude to the stories being passed down, and the importance of the oral tradition
Examiner Tips and Tricks
The mark scheme for CIE Literature for English Paper 1 asks for an understanding of characters, relationships, situations and themes. Specifically, examiners reward answers that consider the “deeper meanings of the poem”. This means you should spend time thinking about, for example, the reason Liz Lochhead creates a simple setting in which to present the excitement of storytelling.
Writer's methods
This section is organised into: form, structure, and language. All three are valuable “writer’s methods” to explore when you answer the poetry question in the CIE Literature for English exam. You should consider the poet’s choice of form (its shape and the perspective of the speaker), its structure (the speaker’s tone of voice), and the language used to create effect and meaning.
Examiners require you to focus on the poem’s deeper ideas, and in a sensitive way. So, discuss how the poet’s methods reveal their ideas or themes. That is why all the analysis below is arranged by theme and includes Liz Lochhead’s intentions in terms of her choices of:
Form
Structure
Language
Form
Liz Lochhead creates a long, immersive, free flowing form to portray the significance of stories to peasant women in a small community.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
|---|---|---|
Cultural identity | The poem’s four stanzas (opens in a new tab) increase in length as the poem progresses: this mimics the women’s emotions as events of the evening unfold (before the stories, during the stories, and afterwards) | Lochhead’s poem reflects the women’s anticipation of the nightly stories, and the way storytelling brings the community together |
Structure
Lochhead’s free verse (opens in a new tab) poem reflects the long and passionate stories the peasant woman tells, and conveys how her stories bring excitement and relief from the routine of daily work.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
|---|---|---|
Individual identity | The poem’s lack of rhyme scheme (opens in a new tab), along with fluid lines, mimics the lengthy nature of the woman’s storytelling, but anaphora (opens in a new tab) in line 22-24 contrast the free-flowing rhythm to reflect the dullness of the women’s daily lives | Lochhead illustrates how the women complete the same daily tasks in the same kitchen day after day, but she suggests that stories relieve this boredom and, thus, she raises the profile of traditional storytelling |
Language
Liz Lochhead’s poem creates a vivid image of how the dull lives and mundane chores of modest and marginalised women are enriched and motivated by stories told around a kitchen table.
Theme | Evidence | Poet’s intention |
|---|---|---|
Cultural identity | While the poem begins with the immersive “she sat down” and a description of a simple kitchen with “cracked” plates and a “scoured” table to portray a simple life, the stories told in the kitchen are presented as exciting with onomatopoeia (opens in a new tab), like in “clacked” and “husk”, as well as rich metaphor alluding to spinning wheels and bats | Lochhead shows how stories become part of the rich tradition of a small peasant community of domestic women |
Understanding the text
The poetry questions in the CIE Literature for English exam encourage an informed, personal response, which means that it is not enough just to know the poem, but that you will also need to develop a sound understanding of the poem’s themes, main ideas, settings, situations and events to explore the writer’s intentions and methods. This section has been divided into two main themes that Liz Lochhead examines in her poem ‘Storyteller’:
Individual identity
Cultural identity
Examiner Tips and Tricks
A good start to writing a “personal and evaluative engagement” is to engage with the key words of the question and think carefully about your introduction. Examiners suggest that you set up a clear argument that focuses on the writer’s purposes or aims. Think about why the poet raises certain themes, or what ideas are challenged in their poem. This might be because of their background or the society they lived in. This is how you can connect ‘context’ to your argument.
Individual identity
Liz Lochhead is a Scottish poet, born in 1947
Her work is inspired by American feminist writers who rework old myths, as well as Scottish oral culture and European myths
The poem ‘Storyteller’ is the introduction to a series of poems called The Grimm Sisters, written in 1981:
The collection reworks old fairy-tales and myths with a feminist perspective, particularly those written by the Brothers Grimm
Lochhead’s work re-enchants or subverts everyday reality with mythic and fairytale elements:
In her poem ‘Storyteller’, the lives of domestic women are enriched by magical stories that dissolve in the “into the whorl of the ear”
In ‘Storyteller’ Lochhead presents a female orator who is able to capture the attention of a community all night because of her masterful narratives
Some of the references in the poem suggest the setting is Dutch:
For example, there are “flat fields”, the women wear “clogs”, and the plates are “cracked delft”
Arguably, the poem represents the daily chores of any domestic woman
They sit around a “scoured table” and a “swept” floor
Cultural identity
Twentieth century literature saw a revival of the oral tradition of storytelling, and often celebrates the power of performance poetry:
Liz Lochhead’s poetry uses alliteration and onomatopoeic words to elevate the sound of the language
For example, in the lines, “the tongue clacked/five or forty fingers” or in “darning was done” and “peasant’s feet felt for clogs”
Lochhead’s poem ‘Storyteller’ raises the idea of cultural continuity through storytelling:
The celebrates the way a woman captivates her community with her suspenseful storytelling around a kitchen table
For instance, in the line, “she’d have us waiting, held/breath”
Metaphor alluding to “spinning” wheels and “sleeping heads of children” refers to the way fairytales are passed down “by heart” and continually loved
For further advice and guidance on how to answer the poetry question, please see our detailed guides on Paper 1 Section A: what the question is asking (opens in a new tab) and how to get full marks (opens in a new tab). You will also find an example of a full, annotated model answer (opens in a new tab).
It is important to remember that no marks are given for comments on any of the other poems studied in the anthology. Your response should concentrate only on the poem given.
Sources
Ballantyne, James. “Liz Lochhead and the Fairies: Context and Influence in Grimm Sisters and Dreaming Frankenstein.” Scholar Commons, 13 June 2023, https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2326&context=ssl (opens in a new tab). Accessed 23 August 2025.
Donaldson, William (2022) "Liz Lochhead and the Fairies: Context and Influence in Grimm Sisters and Dreaming Frankenstein," Studies in Scottish Literature: Vol. 48: Iss. 2, 168–192.
DOI: 10.51221/suc.ssl.2023.48.2.13
https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/Images/414779-2020-specimen-mark-scheme-1.pdf (opens in a new tab).
Songs of Ourselves: Volume 1: Cambridge Assessment International Education Anthology of Poetry in English. Cambridge University Press & Assessment, 2018.
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