​CLASS XI

ENGLISH WORKSHEET

THE LABURNUM TOP – TED

HUGHES
Ted Hughes

OM​ ​OBE​ ​FRSL

Hughes in later life

Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom

In office
28 December 1984 – 28 October 1998

Born Edward James Hughes

17 August 1930
​ orkshire​, England
Mytholmroyd​, Y
 Died 28 October 1998 (aged 68)
London​, England

Nationality English
Alma mater Pembroke College, Cambridge
Occupation Poet, playwright, writer
NOTABLE WORKS
● “The Hawk in the Rain”

● “Crow”

● “Birthday Letters”

AWARDS AND HONORS

● Costa Book Awards​ (1998)

● Costa Book Awards​ (1997)

The Laburnum Top Introduction of the

Poem
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 once
again.

The Laburnum Top Summary

The poem 'Laburnum Top' presents a complimentary
relationship between the goldfinch and the laburnum tree.
The goldfinch, aka wild canary, builds its nest on the
highest branches of the Laburnum Tree. Hence, the poem
is titled, 'Laburnum ​Top​'. Also known as the 'golden chain
tree', the golden flowers are a perfect camouflage for the
bright yellow goldfinch and her young ones. Autumn lends
a yellow colour to the leaves too.
At the beginning of the poem, one September afternoon,
the top of the laburnum tree stands silent and still (symbol
of peace and serenity). The poet uses alliteration and
personification (The laburnum top is 'silent quite still'). The
leaves are turning yellow in autumn and the seeds have
already fallen.
This peace and serenity is disturbed by the arrival of the
goldfinch ( a symbol of vivacity and liveliness). The
goldfinch visits laburnum to feed its young ones as it has
built its nest there. The movement of the goldfinch is sleek,
smooth, alert and abrupt (assonance) like a lizard (simile).
It quickly enters the dense foliage and it seems that a
machine that had lain dormant till then, awakens. The tree
has been compared to a machine (metaphor). The bird's
family, quiet until now in the absence of the goldfinch,
begins to chirrup (onomatopoeia) and twitch and generally
a commotion is created. The tree seems to have come alive
as it seems to tremble and thrill (alliteration and
personification) with the movement of the bird and its
family. The birds thus are the engine (metaphor) of the
machine - the laburnum tree.
The goldfinch stokes this engine by feeding its family
(stoking = feeding = adding fuel to an engine). Once they
have been fed, the goldfinch moves to the end of a branch
peeping out such that only its face is visible in the
yellowness of the tree. The face has black markings which
makes it seem like the bird is wearing a mask. This mask
and the strange, uncanny whistle chirrup she emits is like
a warning to any predators who wish to harm its children
and on that note, she flies away into the vast infinite sky
leaving the tree empty and once again, silent as it was.

The Laburnum Top Poem and

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

Laburnum – a short tree with hanging branches, yellow

flowers, and poisonous seeds

In the above lines, the poet says that he saw a Laburnum

tree whose leaves were yellow. The tree’s top is still and
silent in the day time of September month. It is autumn
season and all the seeds of the tree had fallen.
The poet has used the word ‘yellow’ for leaves and
sunlight. Yellow symbolizes silence, death, and beauty. He
describes the whole scene of the tree with this colour. The
bird has purposefully chosen the Laburnum tree with
yellow flowers to build its nest as a camouflage from the
predators, since she and her fledglings are all yellow in
colour.
 2.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.

Goldfinch – a small singing birds with yellow feathers on

its wings
Twitching – sudden jerk movement
Chirrup – a bird making repeated high pitched sounds
Startlement – feeling or showing sudden shock
Abrupt – rapid
Chitterings – to make a chattering sound
Tremor of wings – involuntary vibration of the wings
Trillings – to produce a chirruping sound
Trembles – to shake
Thrills – a sudden feeling of excitement

A Goldfinch bird comes to end the death-like scene of the

tree and makes a sudden chirrup sound. The bird while
being rapid, alert and precautious like a lizard, sits on the
branch of the tree. As she moved towards the thickness of
the branch, her younger ones started chirruping and
making vibrations with wings (flapping them), making a
sound like a machine. Because of the movement of the
bird and her young ones, the tree starts to shake and thrill.
The poet has given two opposite scenarios of the tree. The
tree first being death-like and still and then giving life and
shelter to bird and her young ones.

3.It is the engine of her family.

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

Flirts out – lead on to

Stokes – to add fuel to the engine
Barred – stripy

The Laburnum tree and the goldfinch bird is the engine of

her family. She provides food to her young ones and
moves to the other branch end. Her dark coloured striped
face is visible as her body is yellow coloured and hides
behind the yellow leaves of the tree.

4.Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup

whisperings
She launches away, towards the infinite
And the laburnum subsides to empty.

Eerie – weird and strange

Whistle-chirrup – gentle whisper like the chirping of the
bird
Subsides – diminishes

After reaching the end of the branch, the bird makes a

sweet chirping sound just like whispering and flies away
towards the infinite sky. It again makes the Laburnum tree
silent and death-like.

The Laburnum Top Literary Devices

1.​ Alliteration​ ​- repetition of a consonant sound at the
beginning of two or more consecutive words. The
instances of alliteration in the poem are as follows-
Silent, quite still
Suddenness and startlement
September sunlight
Alert and abrupt
tree trembles and thrills

2.​ Simile​ ​– comparison between two things using like or

as.
Sleek as a lizard

3​. Metaphor​ ​– an indirect comparison between two things.

Generally, a quality is compared.
Yellow September
“She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up” - the
noise created by the movement of the birds is compared to
the machine’s noise
“It is the engine of her family.”
“Showing her barred face identity mask”

4.​ Personification​ ​– the attribution of personal nature

characteristics to something non-human
The whole tree trembles and thrills.

5​. Transferred Epithet​ ​– the figure of speech where the

adverb is transferred to another noun
her barred face identity mask

6​.Onomatopoeia​- ​when words are used to denote sounds

Chitterings
Whistle - chirrup
tremor of wings
trillings
whisperings

7. ​Allusion:​ an indirect reference, reference to something

supposed to be known, but not explicitly mentioned.
Infinite (referred to ‘sky’ here)

Questions and Answers

Q1. To what is the bird’s movement compared to?

What is the basis for the comparison?
Ans: The goldfinch’s movement is compared to that of a
lizard because it was abrupt, sleek and alert. The same
movements were observed when the goldfinch arrived at
the tree and moved to the thickness side of the branch to
feed her young ones.

Q2. Why is the image of the engine evoked by the

poet?
Ans: As the engine is the source to run the machine. The
bird is compared to the engine as she is the feeder of her
family. As a machine cannot work without an engine, her
family can’t last without her.​ ​Just as a stoker feeds coal to
an engine, the goldfinch “feeds her family”.

Q3. What do you notice about the beginning and the

ending of the poem?
Ans: The beginning described a silent laburnum tree with
no noise or movement. However, it also seemed tranquil,
at peace. In the end, the tree subsided to stillness and
silence, however, it also seemed emptier than before,
having recently been touched by an enchanting chaos.

Q4. What does the phrase “her barred face identity

mask” mean?
Ans: The phrase “her barred face identity mask” means
that the bird’s face became her identity and symbol of
recognition.

Q5. He strokes it full…” – explain this phrase with

reference to the poem.

Ans: In this quoted phrase from Ted Hughes’ poem “The

Laburnum Top”, ‘she’ refers to the goldfinch which acts as
an engine to its entire family. ‘Strokes’ means adding fuel.
In this very context of the poem, the goldfinch feeds its
family, providing the fuel that is nutrition what the machine
or the bird’s family needs to be energetic.

Q6. Comment on the imagery of the poem.

Ans : The ‘yellow afternoon September sunlight’,
‘yellowing leaves’ and ‘fallen seeds’ convey a visual image
of autumn as clearly as the auditory imagery of
onomatopoeic sounds such as chitterings, trillings, whistle
chirrup, made by the goldfinch and its family, convey an
enchanting chaos.
The ‘abrupt, alert movements’ of the bird followed by its
‘flirting to a branch end’ or ‘launching away to infinite’ form
the tactile imagery in the poem. Even the ‘barred face
identity mask’ conjures a visual image of the bird in the
poet’s eye. Thus, Ted Hughes has used imagery quite
successfully in the poem ‘The Laburnum Top’

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS

1. How does the Laburnum tree appear in

September?
2. How does the goldfinch depart from the laburnum
tree?
3. What happens when the goldfinch enters the
thickness?
4. Give a brief account of the sounds and
movement of the goldfinch on the laburnum top.

Read the extract given below and answer the

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

1. Why are the leaves of the laburnum tree turning

yellow?
2. Name the poetic device used in the first line.
3. What does the word ‘still’ in the poem signify?
4. Name the poet who has composed this poem.

b.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.

1. Name the poetic device used in the first line.

2. Who is compared to a lizard and why?
3. Why does the laburnum tree ‘tremble’?
4. What do the words ’a machine starts up’ convey?