Poem - The Laburnum Top

 POEM - The Laburnum  Top 

POET INTRODUCTION 

 Laburnum Top Introduction

The poem ‘The Laburnum Top’ is written by Ted Hughes. It is about a repaying relationship between the Laburnum tree and the Goldfinch bird. The tree is yellow, silent and death-like and is made alive by the bird and her young ones. The yellow bird has her shelter on the tree where she feeds her young ones. But as soon as the bird leaves to fly in the sky, the tree becomes silent and death-like again.

Poem - The Laburnum Top

The Laburnum top is silent, quite still
In the afternoon yellow September sunlight,
A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen.

Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup
A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end.
Then sleek as a lizard, and alert, and abrupt,
She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up
Of chitterings, and a tremor of wings, and trillings —
The whole tree trembles and thrills.
It is the engine of her family.
She stokes it full, then flirts out to a branch-end
Showing her barred face identity mask

Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings
She launches away, towards the infinite

And the laburnum subsides to empty.

WORD  MEANINGS 

laburnum: a short tree with hanging branches, yellow flowers and poisonous seeds

goldfinch: a small singing bird with yellow feathers on its wings

1. Abrupt – rapid
2. Chirrup – a bird making repeated high-pitched sounds
3. Chitterings – to make a chattering sound
4. Eerie – weird and strange
5. Goldfinch – a small singing birds with yellow feathers on its wings
6. Laburnum – a short tree with hanging branches, yellow flowers, and poisonous seeds
7. Startlement – feeling or showing sudden shock
8. Subsides – diminishes
9. Thrills – a sudden feeling of excitement
10. Trembles – to shake
11. Tremor of wings – involuntary vibration of the wings
12. Trillings – to produce a chirruping sound
13. Twitching – sudden jerk movement
14. Whistle-chirrup – gentle whisper like the chirping of the bird

- POETIC  DEVICES 

Simile

"Then sleek as a lizard" – Compares the smooth, alert, and abrupt movement of the goldfinch entering the tree to a lizard. 

Metaphor

"A machine starts up of chitterings" – The sudden noise of the young chicks is compared to starting a machine.
"It is the engine of her family" – The mother goldfinch is compared to an engine that powers and feeds her family.
"Her barred face identity mask" – The striped patterns on the bird's face are compared to a mask that gives her a distinct identity. 

Personification

"The whole tree trembles and thrills" – Attributes human-like physical reactions (shaking and excitement) to the non-living laburnum tree.

Alliteration

"September sunlight" – Repetition of the 's' sound.
"The whole tree trembles" – Repetition of the 'tr' sound. 

Onomatopoeia

"Whistle-chirrup" and "chitterings" – Words that mimic the actual sounds made by the bird.

If you'd like, I can provide a stanza-wise explanation or summarize the central theme of the poem.

RHYME SCHEME 

Free Verse 

EXTRACTS 

1 . The Laburnum top is silent, quite still
In the afternoon yellow September sunlight,
A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen.

Q1. At what time of the day does the poem open?
Ans. The poem opens in the afternoon.

Q2. What is the condition of the Laburnum top?
Ans. The Laburnum top is silent.

Q3. What does the word ‘yellowing’ here mean?
Ans. The word ‘yellowing’ means becoming yellow.

Q4. Which season is suggested by the month of September?
Ans. The season suggested by the month of September is autumn.

2 - 

 . She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up

Of chitterings, and a tremor of wings, and trillings —
The whole tree trembles and thrills.

Q1. How do the baby goldfinch birds react at the arrival of the mother goldfinch bird?
Ans. At the arrival of the mother goldfinch bird the baby goldfinch birds chatter, shake their bodies and even produce sounds of high notes.

Q2. What is referred to here as ‘thickness’?
Ans. The inner part of the Laburnum top in general and the branch on which the Goldfinch sits in particular is referred to here as ‘thickness’.

Q3. What does the word ‘thrills’ mean?
Ans. The word ‘thrills’ means shakes violently.

Q4. Why are the baby goldfinch birds looked upon as a machine?
Ans. The baby goldfinch birds are looked upon as a machine because they seem to have a start and stop mechanism like a machine.

Extract -3

“Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup
A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end.”

Q-1 Whose arrival breaks the silence of the tree?

a) A sparrow
b) A crow
c) A goldfinch
d) A dove

Answer: c) A goldfinch

Q-2. The word “chirrup” refers to:

a) Human whistle
b) Soft laughter
c) A bird’s sharp sound
d) Cry of pain

Answer: c) A bird’s sharp sound

Q-3 Fill in the blank: The arrival of the goldfinch brings a sense of ________ to the tree.

Answer: sudden energy

Q-4The phrase “a startlement” shows:

a) Quietness
b) Surprise and sudden activity
c) Anger
d) Fear

Answer: b) Surprise and sudden activity

Q-5. What literary device is used in “twitching chirrup”?

a) Metaphor
b) Alliteration
c) Simile
d) Hyperbole

Answer: b) Alliteration

Extract -4

“She stokes it full, then flirts out to a branch-end
Showing her barred face identity mask.”

Q-1 Who is “she” in this extract?

a) The poet’s mother
b) The goldfinch
c) A sparrow
d) The laburnum tree

Answer: b) The goldfinch

Q-2What does “stokes it full” mean?

a) Filling her nestlings with food and energy
b) Building a new nest
c) Singing a song
d) Playing with chicks

Answer: a) Filling her nestlings with food and energy

Q-3. Fill in the blank: The goldfinch’s ________ face is her identity mask.

Answer: barred

Q-4 What does the goldfinch symbolize here?

a) Silence
b) Motherhood and responsibility
c) Decay
d) Energy of the tree

Answer: b) Motherhood and responsibility