Liz LochheadPoetry

Higher EnglishThe Bargain

My Rival’s HouseLast Supper

View of Scotland/Love PoemSome old photographs

For My Grandmother Knitting

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Scottish poet and playwright Liz Lochhead was born in 1947, in Motherwell, Lanarkshire. She studied at the Glasgow School of Art and taught art at schools in Glasgow and Bristol. She was Writer in Residence at Edinburgh University (1986-7) and Writer in Residence at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1988. Her first collection of poems, Memo for Spring, was published in 1972 and won a Scottish Arts Council Book Award. Her poetry has been published in a number of collections including Penguin Modern Poets 4 (1995).

A performer as well as a poet, her revue Sugar and Spite was staged in 1978 with Marcella Evaristi. Liz Lochhead travelled to Canada in the same year, after being selected for a Scottish Writers Exchange Fellowship, and she became a full-time writer, performance poet and broadcaster.

Her plays include Blood and Ice (1982), first performed at the Edinburgh Traverse in 1982; Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off (1989), first performed by Communicado Theatre Company at the 1987 Edinburgh festival; Dracula (1989); Cuba (1997), a play for young people commissioned by the Royal National Theatre for the BT National Connections Scheme; and Perfect Days (1998), a romantic comedy, first performed at the Edinburgh festival in 1998.

She translated and adapted Molière's Tartuffe (1985) into Scots, premiered at the Edinburgh Royal Lyceum in 1987, and the script of her adaptation of Euripides' Medea (2000) for Theatre Babel in 2000 won the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award. In her play Misery Guts (2002), based on Molière's The Misanthrope, the action is updated to the modern-day Scottish Parliament. Her work for television includes Latin for a Dark Room, a short film, screened as part of the BBC Tartan Shorts season at the 1994 Edinburgh International Film Festival, and The Story of Frankenstein for Yorkshire Television. Her collection of poetry, The Colour of Black and White: Poems 1984-2003, was published in 2003 and a romantic comedy for the stage, Good Things, in 2006.

Liz Lochhead lives in Glasgow. She was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Edinburgh in 2000. In 2005, she was made Poet Laureate of Glasgow, and in 2011, became Scots Makar. Her latest book is A Choosing: The Selected Poetry of Liz Lochhead, published in 2011.

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The Bargain

The river in January is fast and high.

You and I

are off to the Barrows.

Gathering police-horses twitch and fret

at the Tron end of London Road and

Gallowgate.

The early kick-off we forgot

has us, three thirty, rubbing the wrong

way

against all the ugly losers

getting ready to let fly

where the two rivers meet.

January, and we’re

looking back, looking forward,

don’t know which way

but the boy

with three beautiful Bakelite

Bush radios for sale in Meadow’s

Minimarket is

buttonpopping stationhopping he

doesn’t miss a beat sing along it’s

easy

to every changing tune

Yes today we’re in love aren’t we?

with the whole splintering city

its big quick river wintry bridges

its brazen black Victorian heart.

So what if every other tenement

wears its hearth on its gable end?

All I want

is my glad eye to catch

a glint in your flinty Northern face again

just once. Oh I know it’s cold

and coming down

and no we never lingered long among

the Shipbank traders.

Paddy’s Market underneath the

arches

stank too much today

the usual wetdog reek rising

from piles of old damp clothes.

Somebody absolutely steamboats he

says on

sweet warm wine

swigged plaincover from a paper bag

squats in a puddle with nothing to sell

but three bent forks a torn

calendar (last year’s)

and a broken plastic sandal.

So we hadn’t the stomach for it today.

We don’t deserve a bargain then!

No connoisseur can afford to be too

scrupulous

about keeping his hands clean.

There was no doubt the rare the

beautiful

and the bugle-beaded the real antique

dirt cheap

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among the rags and drunks

you could easily take to the cleaners.

At the Barrows everything has its price

no haggling believe me

this boy knows his radios.

Pure Utility

and what that’s worth these days.

and anything within a decade of art deco

a rarity you’ll pay through your nose for.

The man with the patter and all these

curtain lengths

in fibreglass is flabbergasted at the

bargain

and says so in so many words.

Jesus, every other

arcade around here’s

a ‘Fire Surround Boutique’ –

and we watch the struggling families –

father carrying hearth home

mother wound up with kids.

All the couples we know fall apart

or have kids.

Oh we’ve never shouldered much.

We’ll stick to small ikons for our home –

as long as they’re portable –

a dartboard a peacock feather

a stucco photoframe.

We queue in a blue haze of hot fat

for Danny’s Do-Nuts that grit

our teeth with granules of sugar

I keep

losing you and finding you –

two stalls away you thumb

through a complete set of manuals for

primary teachers in the thirties

I rub my sleeve

on a rusty Chinese saucer

till the gilt shows through.

Oh come on we promised

we’d not let our affection for the slightly

cracked

trap us into such expenditure again.

Oh even if it is a bargain

we won’t buy.

The stallholder says I’ll be the death of

her

she says see January

it’s been the doldrums the day.

And it’s packing up time

with the dark coming early

and as cold as the river.

By the bus stop I show you

the beady bag and the maybe rosewood

box

with the inlaid butterfly and the broken

catch.

you’ve bought a record by the Shangri-

las

a pin-stripe waistcoat that needs a stitch

it just won’t get and a book called

Enquire

Within – Upon Everything.

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The raw cold gets colder.

There doesn’t seem to be a lot to say.

I wish we could either mend things

or learn to throw them away.

This poem is typical of Lochhead. It very much combines her Scottish sense of pragmatism with her craftsmanship as a wordsmith to create a meditation on a relationship that has reached a crossroads.

The speaker in the poem describes a day out with her lover at the famous Barrows market in the east end of Glasgow. This experience is used as a wider metaphor to explore and reflect upon her relationship.

The title of the poem refers not just to the bargains the couple seek out at the market, but to the bargaining that occurs within any relationship.

Themes and links to other poems

This poem deals with a relationship that seems to have reached a crossroads. Lochhead uses a depiction of a day at a flea market to reveal the problems in the relationship.

The poem also illustrates Lochhead’s obvious love and affection for Glasgow as she brings its landmarks and characters to life.

This poem would make a good comparison piece for View of Scotland/Love Poem as it too deals with a romantic relationship against the backdrop of the city at a specific time of year.

Questions

1. This poem strongly evokes a sense of Glasgow. How does it do that?

2. When do you as a reader first become aware of the problems within the relationship?

3. How does this poem link with other Lochhead poems you have studied?

4. How is Lochhead’s sentence structure and layout particularly effective in this poem?

5. What do you think the final two lines of the poem mean?

6. The book that they leave with, Enquire Within – Upon Everything, is a how-to book

for domestic life. Why do you think this is mentioned?

7. Do you think ‘The Bargain’ is an appropriate title for the poem? Justify your answer.

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My Rival’s House

is peopled with many surfaces.

Ormolu and gilt, slipper satin,

lush velvet couches,

cushions so stiff you cant sink in.

Tables polished clear enough to see distortions in.

We take our shoes off at her door,

shuffle stocking-soled, tiptoe – the parquet floor

is beautiful and its surface must

be protected. Dust-

cover, drawn shade,

won’t let the surface colour fade.

Silver sugar-tongs and silver salver,

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my rival serves us tea.

She glosses over him and me.

I am all edges, a surface, a shell

and yet my rival thinks she means me well.

But what squirms beneath her surface I can tell.

Soon, my rival

capped tooth, polished nail

will fight, fight foul for her survival.

Deferential, daughterly, I sip

and thank her nicely for each bitter cup.

And I have much to thank her for.

This son she bore –

first blood to her –

never, never can escape scot free

the sour potluck of family.

And oh how close

this family that furnishes my rival’s place.

Lady of the house.

Queen bee.

She is far more unconscious,

far more dangerous than me.

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Listen, I was always my own worst enemy.

She has taken even this from me.

She dishes up her dreams for breakfast.

Dinner, and her salt tears pepper our soup.

She won’t

give up.

In this poem, Lochhead considers the interesting dynamic of specific female relationships. As the central concerns of the poem are gradually revealed, the 'rival' of the poem’s title turns out to have a much closer relationship with the speaker than we first thought.

In the poem the speaker describes a visit to the home of her lover’s mother for tea. The atmosphere is immediately loaded with tension. Both women implicitly understand the competitive nature of their relationships as they battle for the affection of the son.

The forced civility and politeness of the visit only serves to emphasise the strain between the two women. The object of their competitive affection, meanwhile, seems utterly oblivious to the underlying tension.

Themes and links to other poems

Thematically, this poem reveals the often uncomfortable rivalry that can exist between a mother and her son’s partner.

Lochhead draws the stereotypical, hectoring and domineering mother-in-law but instead of using it as a humorous device, she creates a presence that is altogether much more malevolent and threatening.

In doing so, she reminds us of some women who seem either unwilling or unable to let their sons go.

This poem then links well with Last Supper since it too paints an unflattering yet truthful portrayal of the nature of some female relationships.

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Like Last Supper, which looks at how some friendships between women can be toxic and corrosive, so too My Rival’s House shows how the traditional mother and son relationship, often idealised in literature, can turn into something malignant and oppressive.

Questions

1. In what ways does the house seem uncomfortable?

2. How do we know who the rival is?

3. Why would we compare the son to the house? Would this be effective?

4. What words describe the mother-in-law? What does this tell us in the opinion of the

speaker?

5. Do you think the speaker is being fair?

6. In what way does rhyme contribute to the tone of the poem?

7. This poem is conversational. What evidence is there for this?

Last Supper

She is getting good and ready to renouncehis sweet flesh.

Not just for lent. (ForEver)

But meanwhile she is assembling the ingredientsfor their last treat, the proper

feast (after alldidn’t they always

eat togetherrather more than rather well?)

So here she is tearing foliage, scramblingthe salad, maybe lighting candles even, anyway

stepping back to admire the effect ofthe table she’s made (and oh yes now

will have to lie on) the silverware,the nicely al-

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dente vegetables, the cooked goose.He could be depended on to bring the bottle

plus betrayal with a kiss.

Already she was imagining it done with, this feast, andexactly

what kind of leftover hash she’d make of itamong friends, when it was just

The Girls, when those three met again.What very good soup

she could render from the bones,then something substantial, something extra

tasty if not elegant.

Yes, there they’d be cackling around the cauldron,spitting out the gristlier bits

of his giblets;gnawing on the knucklebone of some

intricate irony;getting grave and dainty at the

petit-gout mouthfuls of reported speech.

‘That’s rich!’ they’d splutter,munching the lies, fat and sizzling as sausages.

Then they’d sink backgorged on truth

and their own savage integrity,sleek on it all, preening

like corbies, their bright eyes blinkingsatisfied

till somebody would get hungryand go hunting again.

In this poem, Lochhead challenges our usual perceptions of women who have been betrayed by a partner who has been unfaithful.

Instead of presenting the woman as a victim, she is depicted preparing a final meal to mark the end of the relationship. She imagines herself and her girlfriends later gorging themselves on the lies and infidelity of her ex-lover.

In doing so, she presents an unflattering yet truthful depiction of the nature of some female friendships.

Themes and links to other poems

While this poem touches on the effects of infidelity, this is not really a central concern. Indeed, here the woman who has suffered the betrayal is depicted not as a victim but as a predator. She converts her

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lover’s unfaithfulness and lies into something that can provide sustenance not just for herself but for her friends. The overriding theme then is the sinister and negative aspects of some female relationships. Often society elevates sisterhood and sororities into something empowering and noble, yet here Lochhead exposes the corrosive, toxic effects of some friendships.

The behaviour of the women is loaded with misandry and their contempt for men is almost tangible. The conclusion of the poem, in which men are depicted as prey to be hunted is especially revealing. Lochhead forces us to confront our preconceived notions of female relationships. She conveys a facet of these friendships which, while perhaps unappetising, is nonetheless true.

There are thematic links between this poem and My Rival’s House.

Questions

1. Why is ‘Last Supper’ an appropriate title for this poem?

2. Identify and explain the puns in this piece.

3. Describe the women as they are portrayed in the poem. What kind of women do you think they would be in real life?

4. Select an image from the poem and explain its effectiveness.

5. What do you think is the message of the poem and why do you think that?

View of Scotland/Love Poem

Down on her hands and kneesat ten at night on Hogmanay,

my mother still giving it elbow greasejiffywaxing the vinolay. (This is too

ordinary to be nostalgia.) On the kitchen tablea newly opened tin of sockeye salmon.

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Though we do not expect anyone,the slab of black bun,

petticoat-tails fanned outon bone china.

‘Last year it was very quiet…’

Mum’s got her rollers in with wavesetand her well-pressed good dress

slack across the candlewick upstairs.Nearly half-ten already and her not shifted!

If we’re to even hope to prosperthis midnight must find ushow we would like to be.A new view of Scotland

with a dangling calendaris propped under last year’s,

ready to take it’s place.

Darling, it’s thirty years sinceanybody was able to trick me,

December thirty-first, into‘looking into a mirror to see a lassie

wi as minny heids as days in the year’ –and two already since,

familiar strangers at a party,we did not know that we were

the happiness we wished each otherwhen the Bells went, did we?

All over the cityoff-licenses pull down their shutters,

people make for where they want to beto bring the new year in.

In high rises and tenementssunburst clocks tick

on dusted mantelshelves.Everyone puts on their best spread of plenty

(for to even hope to prosperthis midnight must find ushow we would like to be).

So there’s a bottle of sickly liqueuramong the booze in the alcove,

golden crusts on steak pies

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like quilts on a double bed.And this is where we live.There is no time like the

present for a kiss.

As the split title infers, this poem is a combination of Lochhead’s own memories of Hogmanay in the 1950s and a love poem written for her husband.

Despite its distinctly autobiographical nature, the poem is universal as it deals with experiences and traditions that many people in Scotland associate with this time of year.

Themes and links to other poems

This poem deals with the relationship between the past and the present and how our experiences and memories combine to inform our characters, values and ideals.

She resists the temptation to become nostalgic in order to describe specific memories in accurate detail. This creates a much more honest and truthful poem.

The specific traditions and superstitions associated with Scotland’s Hogmanay celebrations are also explored, especially in regard to how they help to create a link between the past and present.

This poem would make a useful comparison piece for The Bargain and Some Old Photographs.

Questions

1. Why does the poem have two titles? Why is it split like this?

2. Describe the register of the speaker in this poem. Why do you think this has been chosen? Are there any changes?

3. Identify a main theme in this poem and give reasons for your answer.

4. How do we know this is a love poem? What is it a love poem for?

5. Who is speaking in the poem and to whom?

6. In what ways do the word choice and imagery in the poem convey a positive picture of Scotland?

7. What impact does the phrase ‘jiffywaxing the vinolay’ have on the reader? Why?

Some old photographs

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weather evocative as scent

the romance of dark storm clouds

in big skies over the low wide river

of long shadows and longer shafts of light

of smoke

fabulous film-noir stills of Central Station

of freezing fog silvering the chilled, stilled parks

of the glamorous past

where drops on a rainmate are sequins

in the lamplight, in the black-and-white

your young, still-lovely mother laughs, the

hem of her sundress whipped up

by a wind on a beach before you were born

all the Dads in hats

are making for Central at five past five

in the snow, in the rain, in the sudden what-a-scorcher,

in the smog, their

belted dark overcoats white-spattered by the starlings

starlings swarming

in that perfect and permanent cloud

above what was

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never really this photograph

but always all the passing now

and noise and stink and smoky breath of George Square

wee boays, a duchess, bunting, there’s a

big launch on the Clyde

and that boat is yet to sail

Much of Lochhead’s identity and skill as a poet is derived from her innate sense of 'Scottishness' and her ability to really capture and convey a specific sense of place.

Here the old photographs from the title are used as a catalyst to transport us back to a version of Glasgow from the past.

Lochhead uses familiar settings such as Glasgow Central Station and George Square to create an atmospheric poem that invites us to reflect on the elusiveness of the passage of time.

Themes and links to other poems

This poem asks us to consider the paradox that old photographs present.

On one hand, they can forever capture a moment in history that we can return to again and again.

However given that we are in a constant state of change and flux we can never really return or go back to a moment from the past.

In that sense then the photographs only emphasise the elusive and relentless nature of time – as soon as the image is captured it is already gone and consigned to history.

This poem would make a useful comparison with View of Scotland/Love Poem and also The Bargain.

Questions

1. Do you think the language in this poem is mostly positive or negative? Justify your

choice. Why do you think this has been done?

2. Alliteration and sibilance are used frequently in this poem. Give examples and explain

the effect.

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3. What is the main message of this poem? Why do you think this?

4. Who do you think the speaker in the poem is and why?

5. Why do you think this poem was included in the pack when you think about the

others? Give reasons for your answer.

For My Grandmother Knitting

There is no need they saybut the needles still move

their rhythms in the working of your handsas easily

as if your handswere once again those sure and skilful hands

of the fisher-girl.

You are old nowand your grasp of things is not so good

but master of your moments thendeft and swift

you slit the still-ticking quick silver fish.Hard work it was too

of necessity.

But now they say there is no needas the needles move

in the working of your handsonce the hands of the bridewith the hand-span waist

once the hands of the miner’s wifewho scrubbed his back

in a tin bath by the coal fireonce the hands of the mother

of six who made do and mendedscraped and slaved slapped sometimes

when necessary.

But now they say there is no needthe kids they say grandma

have too much alreadymore than they can wear

too many scarves and cardigans –gran you do too much

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there’s no necessity…

At your window you wavethem goodbye Sunday.

With your painful handsbig on shrunken wrists.

Swollen-jointed. Red. Arthritic. Old.But the needles still move

their rhythms in the working of your handseasily

as if your hands rememberedof their own accord the patteras if your hands had forgotten

how to stop.

In this poem, Lochhead asks us to consider the way the elderly are treated in our society and how the process of aging changes our perceptions of individuals.

The poet uses the symbol of her grandmother’s hands to emphasise her changing roles over the course of her life, from young fisher girl to the aged and infirm old lady that she has become.

Themes and link to other poems

This poem deals with the cruelty and reductiveness of the aging process and invites us to consider the relationships and conflict between the past and the present.

To her own children, the poet’s grandmother is increasingly irrelevant to the world in which they live. For them, knitting is a skill from a past era that they no longer appreciate. This contrasts with the world in which their mother grew up, where knitting was a necessity, not a hobby.

By rejecting the scarves and cardigans which she produces, they unwittingly make her feel increasingly useless and without purpose.

Through the image of skilful hands that knit, that once provided her livelihood, that scrubbed her husband’s back and raised six children, the poet presents a different and much fuller depiction of her grandmother.

This poem would make a good comparison with Some Old Photographs.

Questions

1. What words are repeated in the poem and why?

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2. What is the mood of the piece? Why do you think this?

3. Contrast the young woman with the old woman in the poem.

4. Comment on the use of punctuation in the poem.

5. How does the poem make you feel?

6. In what way is the title incongruous with the content of the poem?

7. Who do you think is speaking in the poem?

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