VIKAS - The Concept School

--- TED HUGHES

THE LABURNUM TOP
SYNOPSIS

The literal interpretation of 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. 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. The
poet uses alliteration and personification (The laburnum top is 'silent'). The leaves are turning yellow in autumn
and the seeds have already fallen.

The arrival 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 thus far in the absence of the goldfinch, begin to
chirrup (onomatopoeia) and twitch and generally create commotion like a machine. 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 nestlings 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 make 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.

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

It is autumn and we are being given a picture of a Laburnum tree. It is the afternoon and everything is silent and
motionless. The tree has been described as one with yellowing leaves and surrounded by fallen seeds. The
beauty of the fall season or the autumn season comes out distinctly in these lines.

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 —

This bubble of calmness and silence is burst by the goldfinch who flies in with a "twitching chirrup" and
startles the whole tree. She is the mother bird who has come to feed her young ones. The poet uses similes
comparing the bird's movement to that of a lizard to describe the alertness and abrupt movements of the bird.
The poet uses onomatopoeia to bring the poem alive. In line 8, words like chitterings and trillings are
onomatopoeic words. He has also used the phrase "tremor of wings" to make the poem three dimensional by
adding movements to it. The tree comes alive with all that is happening in it.
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

In these lines, the poet has compared the now-alive tree to an engine. With the bird's arrival to her nest, the
entire tree has transformed into a machine and the erstwhile silence that surrounded the tree is replaced with
noise and activity. The whole tree trembles and thrills.
The tree is the engine of the goldfinch's family. The mother bird comes and fuels it by feeding her young ones.
The tree comes alive as if an engine has been started. Once she has "stoked it full" or fuelled the engine of the
laburnum tree, she flies to the end of the branch from where her "barred face" is visible.
The laburnum tree has yellow flowers and the Goldfinch is a yellow bird with a black mark on her face. Thus,
she has a "barred face" and is distinguishable even if the rest of her body gets camouflaged because of the
yellow laburnum flowers. The poet has referred to this as her barred face identity mask as it makes her
recognizable from afar.
Then with a strange yet delicate 'whistle-chirrup', the bird flies away towards the sky. As soon as she flies
away, the laburnum tree retreats to its silent and inactive state.
LITERARY DEVICES:

1. Alliteration - repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of two or more consecutive words.
 September sunlight
 tree trembles and thrills.
 The Laburnum top is silent, quite still
 ‘A suddenness, a startlement
 alert and abrupt
2. Simile – Simile is a poetic device wherein we directly compare two seemingly incomparable ideas
using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’. In this poem, the poet has compared the movements of the goldfinch with
that of a lizard.
 Sleek as a lizard
3. Metaphor – A metaphor is used to indirectly compare two unlikely or incomparable ideas or objects.
The poet makes use of metaphors when he refers to the tree as "the machine" as her arrival brings life to
the tree. He also compares the nest with its nestlings to “an engine”
 “She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up” - the noise created by the movement on the tree
and the chirrupings of the young ones (goldfinch’s family) is compared to the machine’s noise
 “It is the engine of her family.”
 “Showing her barred face identity mask”- barred face is compared to a mask.
4. Personification – Personification is a figure of speech that is used to attribute human characteristics to
something that is not human
 The whole tree trembles and thrills.
5. Transferred Epithet – It is a figure of speech where an epithet (an adjective or a phrase modifying
a noun) is transferred from the noun it is intended to describe to another noun in the sentence, usually
the object.
 her barred face identity mask
6. Onomatopoeia – Onomatopoeia is a poetic device wherein the poet uses words representing sounds.
The laburnum top has many such sound-words. For instance, "twitching chirrup", "chitterings",
"trillings", "whistle-chirrup whisperings", etc. These words add sounds to the poem and make it more
 realistic.
7. Form and structure
 A poem of fifteen lines that is rich in imagery.
 The poet is the narrator who observes the tree and the bird from afar.
 Hughes successfully gives a vivid pen-picture of the tree and the activities that surround it through
the usage of poetic devices.
 The poem has been written in blank verse. This means that each of the lines have a regular meter but
they will not rhyme with each other.

Answer the following questions:

1. What is the significance of ‘yellow’ in the poem?
The flowers of the Laburnum tree and its leaves (in autumn) both are yellow in colour. Apart from
this, the goldfinch’s feathers are also yellow in colour. The poem highlights the high security that the
mother bird (goldfinch) ensures for her babies and the colour yellow helps in camouflaging the babies.
Hence, they escape being noticed by any predator.

2. What happened when the goldfinch came to the laburnum tree?

The arrival of the goldfinch brought about a sudden change in the tree. The young ones started
twittering and there was a lot of noise, commotion and movement on the tree.

3. Explain the first three lines of the poem 'The Laburnum Top'.
The laburnum is the tree whose top part is silent due to lack of movement. There is no breeze and
hence there is no rustling of leaves. The time of the day is afternoon. The month is September, and
the season is autumn season. The leaves of the tree have started decaying and turning yellow as they
are about to fall. The seeds of the laburnum fruit have also fallen.

4. How is the tree transformed during the bird’s visit? Write the line that shows this
transformation.
The tree suddenly starts trembling and moving as if a machine has started up. This is due to the arrival
of the goldfinch in her nest in order to feed her young ones. The young ones start their chitterings; there
is a tremor of wings. The line that shows the transformation is ‘a machine starts up, of chitterings, and a
tremor wings, and trillings- the whole tree trembles and trillings.

5. To what is the movement of the goldfinch compared? What is the basis for the comparison?
The goldfinch’s movement is compared to that of a lizard. The basis of the comparison is the sleek,
abrupt and alert movements of a lizard. The same kinds of movements are observed when the
goldfinch arrives on the laburnum tree.
(OR)
‘Then sleek as a lizard and alert and abrupt, she enters the thickness.’ Explain the given lines.
The lizard is a quick moving animal. It is also very alert and its movements are jerky and abrupt. In the
same manner, the goldfinch enters in the thickness of the branches of the tree and feeds her young ones.
6. ‘The whole tree trembles and thrills.’ Explain the poetic device used by the poet.
The poetic device used is ‘alliteration’. Tree trembles and thrills signifies that the arrival of the
goldfinch on the laburnum top is responsible for the movement and the activities on the tree. The tree
has suddenly sprung to life and there is shaking and thrilling movement on it. Personification is
also used as a poetic device in ‘Tree trembles.’

7. Why is the image of the engine evoked by the poet?

The poet creates the imagery of a machine starting up when the goldfinch arrives in the tree. The sudden
noise and movements produced by the young ones are like the starting of a machine. The stoking of the
engine is actually the act of feeding the young ones and imparting energy and life into them.
(OR)
 The poet likens the nestlings to an engine. An engine is the most important part of a machine. It is the
engine that powers the machine. In the same way the young ones/chicks are the engine of her family. As
soon as the goldfinch enters the thicket, the whole tree trembles and thrills with life. The bird animates
(stirs) the tree with the nestlings’ chitterings, tremor of wings, quick movements and trillings. As soon
as she is gone, the tree becomes silent again as if the engine is switched off.

8. ‘It is the engine of her family; she strokes it full.’ Explain the significance of these lines.
The nestling (the young ones) has been called the engine of goldfinch’s family. Just as the engine starts
up the machine, her arrival in the nest has suddenly started up the silent engine i.e., the young ones start
chirruping and fluttering their wings when they see their mother with food. The expression 'She stokes it
full' means that she has fed the young ones who now have the energy to become active and make noise.

9. What does the phrase ‘her barred face identity mask’ mean?
This is an example of the poetic device – transferred epithet (barred face). The goldfinch has dark
stripes on her face. This is like a mask which identifies the bird as it comes out of the thickness of the
branches of the tree. The distinctive marking on her face make it look as if she is wearing a mask. These
marks help in identifying a goldfinch. So, barred – is actually an adjective for the stripes and has been
transferred from there and applied to the bird (face).

10. ‘She launches away, towards the infinite’. Explain the given line.
‘She’ stands for the goldfinch whose arrival on the tree has suddenly transformed it into a noisy place.
After having fed her young ones and having made the tree active and full of life, the goldfinch flies
away towards the infinitely vast sky.

11. Explain the line ‘And the laburnum subsides to empty’.

This is the last line of the poem depicting the sudden silence which falls over the laburnum tree when
the goldfinch flies away after feeding its young ones. It had been on the tree for some time and the tree
had suddenly become lively and noisy but after its departure, the tree becomes silent again.

12. What do you notice about the beginning and the ending of the poem?
The beginning of the poem describes a silent laburnum tree which has no noise, movement or life. The
ending is also similar where the goldfinch flies away into the vast sky. But the middle part of the poem
shows us a totally transformed tree with noise of the young ones compared to an engine which in turn
starts the silent machine. The tree comes alive as if an engine has been started.

13. Why has the poem been named ‘The Laburnum Top’?
The poem has been named ‘The Laburnum Top’ because the top of the tree has been described in
detail by the poet. It is on the top of the Laburnum tree that the nest of the goldfinch is located and
where all the activity takes place when the goldfinch visits the nest. The second part is a vivid
description of the transformation that the tree undergoes. The entire scenario revolves around the tree.

LONG ANSWERS:

1. Describe the laburnum top.

The Laburnum Top" is a poem which celebrates the energy and life of nature. The laburnum tree is
seen in the silence of fall, without movement or apparent life. The leaves of the laburnum top are
turning yellow due to the autumn. Its seeds have fallen and there is a silence prevailing over the tree.
There is no movement at all.
Then comes a goldfinch, stirring up life both in and on the tree, the whole tree is surrounded by the
sweet chirps of the bird and her young ones. It was previously dead and now it seems to be alive and
shaking until the bird vanishes away again. Dead silence prevails.
2. The arrival of the goldfinch on the Laburnum top brings about a change in the poem. How do
you interpret this change? Is change good or bad in life?
At the start of the poem, the top of the Laburnum tree in the poem is silent and still. There is hardly
any activity on it as the sunlight falls on it on a September afternoon. However, with the arrival of
 the goldfinch, it suddenly becomes a place of feverish activity. The silence of the place is broken by
the twittering and chirruping of the chicks and the goldfinch.
I think that the change brought about by the arrival of the goldfinch on the Laburnum top is good, as
it breaks the monotony. The tree becomes alive and lively with the movement of the goldfinch and
the twitterings and chirrupings of the chicks.
Change can be good or bad in life depending on a situation. However, the fact is that change is only
constant in life. So, even if a change is bad, we have to accept it and move on in life.

3. In poem ‘the laburnum top’, What is the engine of the machine? What is its fuel?
The poem talks about "machine" and "engine". We all know that engine is inside a machine and it is
the driving force of a machine. The engine also needs fuel to work.
When the poet looks at the tree in the beginning, it is silent and still. When the goldfinch enters its
thickness, a machine starts up. The tree is compared to a machine which starts working when the engine
is filled with fuel. The following lines makes this clear. "It is the engine of her family. She stokes it
full". Engine refers to the chicks int the nest. When goldfinch feeds them(fuel), the engine starts
working and naturally the machine too. So, tree is the machine. Inside it is the baby chicks in the nest
i.e., the engine and the food fed by the goldfinch is the fuel.
4. Give a brief account of the sounds and movements of the goldfinch on the laburnum top.
The goldfinch chirps and suddenly settles on the end of a branch on the top of the laburnum tree. Then
quite suddenly and watchfully she enters the thickness of the tree. She moves smoothly like a lizard.
Then the tree is filled up with a series of short, quick high pitched chirruping sounds, shaking of wings and
quavering (trilling) sounds.
The whole tree shakes slightly and is excited. It seems as if a whole machine has started working.
This thickness of the tree houses the family of goldfinch and she stokes theengine of her family before
leaving the tree and flying off to the infinite. The laburnum top once again regains its silence and
stillness.

5. What values do you learn from the goldfinch in the poem ‘The ‘Laburnum Top?
The goldfinch has its nest on the top of the Laburnum tree in the poem, ‘The Laburnum Top’. Her
chicks stay in the nest while she (the mother goldfinch) keeps going out at regular intervals to get
food to feed her chicks. This shows her caring nature and highlights the values of motherly care and
affection of a mother towards her offspring.
The other aspect of the goldfinch that is captured in the poem is its movement. She arrives at the
Laburnum top in a sudden manner and is very much alert to her surroundings. The poet has compared
her movement with the sleek movement of a lizard. However, there is a reason for her moving like
this (in an alert and sudden manner). She is moving in this manner so as to avoid getting noticed by
any predator. She does not want any predator to know that her chicks are resting in her nest on the
Laburnum top as then the predators may attack them or kill them.
The values of safety and security for her offspring is highlighted in this act of the goldfinch.

6. What is the moral of The Laburnum Top?

The poem, “The Laburnum Top” by Ted Hughes describes a mutual relationship between a Laburnum
Tree which is large, beautiful but quite alone and a goldfinch bird which is quite amusing, beautiful
but without a shelter.
The Laburnum Tree gives the house to the bird and its young chicks and the bird, in turn, takes
away its dead silence. Thus, the poet, here in the poem wants to tell the reader the importance of
living with each other. Every person has different capabilities and things. We should live with each
other and always try to lend a helping hand and the others will also do the same.

7. Give the theme of the laburnum top.

The Laburnum top depicts the cycle of life. It shows how different living beings are dependent on
each other for their livelihood.
The first stanza is a description of a tree in autumn. Some of its leaves are turning yellow, and its
seeds have fallen. This represents one life fading and another, in the form of the seeds, about to
 begin. In the second stanza, a goldfinch arrives with "A suddenness, a startlement," and the tree is
brought back to life again. Its branches become busy with "chitterings, and tremor of wings, and
trillings," and the entire tree "trembles and thrills." The tree is also described, metaphorically, as
"the machine". In other words, the tree helps the bird and its family to flourish and move forward. It
provides the bird, and its family, with a place to rest and find shelter. It also provides food, in the
form of sap and buds, for example. This stanza represents the co-dependency of life. One life, even
(or perhaps especially) when it may be fading, helps another. The old life helps the young life by
providing food and shelter for it, and the young life in turn helps the old life by revitalizing it.
In the third and fourth stanzas, the goldfinch flies away, "towards the infinite," and the tree
"subsides to empty." This ending to the poem also perhaps suggests that there is a spiritual side to
life. Indeed, the bird may symbolize the soul of the tree, which animates life (the tree) for a short
while and then leaves to return to "the infinite." Without the soul, life, like the tree, is "empty."

Read the stanza given below and answer the questions that follow:
1. The laburnum top is silent, quite still
In the afternoon yellow September sunlight,
A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen.
a) Name the poem and the poet.
The name of the poem is ‘The Laburnum Top’ and the poet is Ted Hughes.
b) Describe the laburnum tree. / How does the Laburnum tree appear in
September? The tree is silent and still. It has leaves that are yellowing and seeds
have fallen.
c) What is the mood in these lines?
The mood is of peace, calm, quietness and silence. There is absolute stillness and peace.
/Serenity arid stillness.
d) Why is the laburnum tree silent?
The top of the laburnum tree is silent because the young ones of the goldfinch are anxiously
waiting for their mother with food.
e) Pick out the words that create the mood.
The words that create the mood are ‘silent’, ‘still’, ‘yellowing leaves’ and ‘fallen seeds.'
f) Mention the colour suggested by the poet. Also mention the words that suggest colour.
The colour is yellow. The colour is suggested by the yellow September sunlight and the
yellowing leaves.
g) What is the significance of ‘yellow’ in the poem?
As the poem highlights the high security that the mother bird ensures for her babies, yellow has
great implications in the poem. Both the laburnum tree and the goldfinch’s feathers are yellow
in color, the babies escape being noticed by any predator with camouflaging effect.

2. A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen

Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrupA
suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end.

a) Who perches on the tree?

A goldfinch perches on the tree.
b) What season is the poet talking about? Mention the words that suggest the season.
Autumn. The words that suggest the season are September; leaves yellowing and all the seeds
fallen.
c) What has happened to the tree?
It is the month of September. The autumn has set in. The leaves of the tree have turned yellow
and its seeds have also fallen.
 d) What is the stillness disturbed by?
It is disturbed by the arrival of the goldfinch.
e) How does the mood change on the arrival of the goldfinch?
The tree which was earlier silent has become active, noisy and full of life, as the goldfinch has
come to feed her young ones.
f) What happens to the laburnum when the goldfinch arrives?
The sudden arrival and movement of the birds stirs the tree. Her little ones are excited to see
the mother and they start chirruping and fluttering their wings.
g) What is the effect on the tree?
h) There is a lot of movement and sound.

3. 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 trilling
The whole tree trembles and thrills.
a. Who is ‘she’ in the second line? Where does she enter?
‘She’ is the goldfinch and she enters the thickness of the trees.
b. Why does the goldfinch stealthily enter into her nest? Why does she enter the thickness?
The cautious goldfinch enters the tree with great care that no predator would spot her
babieswhich are securely housed in the nest.
c. How does the bird enter the tree? Mention the poetic device.
Like a lizard, watchfully and unexpectedly. Simile.
d. What is the bird’s movement compared to?
The bird’s movement is compared to a lizard. It is sleek, abrupt and alert like a lizard.
e. What is the ‘machine’ referred to in line 2?
The ‘machine’ refers to the young ones of the goldfinch. They are excited to see the mother
andthey suddenly start twittering, chirruping and fluttering their wings to get food from their
mother. It seems as the machine starts up.
f. ‘And a machine starts up.’ What is compared to a machine? What is the poetic device?
The tree becomes noisy and trembles like a machine. Metaphor.
g. Explain the meaning of the last line.
The tree was silent earlier but as the mother goldfinch comes to her nest, there is a lot of
noise made by her young ones. The movement and the sounds produced are in contrast to the
silence.The tree comes to life now.

4. It is the engine of her family

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

a. Who is the ‘she’ in these lines?

The goldfinch.
b. What is her arrival compared to?
The starting of an engine.
c. Why has the word ‘engine’ been used to describe her family?
The word ‘engine’ has been used to describe her family. The engine of the machine starts up
and there is noise, movement and energy signifying the excitement at the arrival of mother.
 d. Who is ‘she’? How does she stroke the engine?
‘She’ is the goldfinch who has her nest on the top of the laburnum tree. Just as the stoker feeds
coal to the engine, the bird feeds her young ones.
e. Why does the poet use the word engine?
The image of the engine is evoked by the poet as an engine is a source of providing energy
which enables the machines to run. The energy of the bird has been compared with that of a
machine as she is also a source of providing energy to her family.
f. What does the bird look like?
The face which was earlier hidden in the thickness of the tree’s branches is now revealed as she
comes out at the end of the branch. She seems to be wearing a striped mask.
g. Why does the bird fly out to a branch end showing her barred face identity mask?
The bird is very cautious about the safety of her young ones. She also reveals her identity to the
babies by showing her barred face. It is the mark of her recognition and reminds them that she
is their mother.
h. What does the phrase her barred face identity mask mean?
The poet refers to the fact that the goldfinch's barred face is her identity mark, it is through the
distinctive markings on her face which make it look like there are bars across its face that
we can identify the goldfinch as it comes out of the branches.
i. What type of mother is the bird?
She is very quick, sleek and alert. Besides, she is a very caring and hardworking mother who
comes and goes so many times to feed her chicks.
5. Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings
She launches away, towards the infinite
And the laburnum subsides to empty.
a. Who has been described in the second line?
The goldfinch has been described in the second line.
b. What impression is created by the description?
The chirruping of the birds is delicate, soft and gentle like whispering. The reference is to the
sounds that the bird makes.
c. Why does the poet call the whispering of the bird Eerie?
The goldfinch flies away from the branches of the laburnum tree, laden with beautiful yellow
flowers, after creating a lot of commotion. It had come to feed its young ones. The tree and
its surroundings are quiet once more. The poet finds the sudden quiet, eerie.
d. Why has the sound been described as ‘eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings?’
The sound of a goldfinch is peculiar. It is a liquid, twittering song with trills.
e. What do the words ‘eerie delicate’ suggest?
They suggest an unusual and weak sound.
f. What effect does the last line create?
The last line shows the contrast between the liveliness of the tree and the silent tree. The tree
becomes silent and empty when the bird flies away. / It once again reverts back into silence.
g. Where does the bird fly to?
The bird leaves its babies and flies in search of more food before they feel hungry again.
h. What happens to the laburnum with the mother’s departure?
With the mother bird’s departure, the laburnum tree becomes calm and quiet again.