The Laburnum Top

Themes
‘The Laburnum Top’ by Ted Hughes presents some important themes like
autumnal change, motherhood, the transience of natural beauty, and the
resonance of life. In the first section of the poem, the poet presents the
theme of autumn and the natural change associated with this season. The
“leaves yellowing” and “seeds fallen” depict a sense of pessimism. In the
following section, the poet uses several important themes. The theme of
motherhood is introduced by the arrival of the mother-goldfinch. There is
also a reference to mother-nature in this section. Moreover, the resonance of
life gets reflected by the sound, a symbol of life, made by the birds living in
the tree. However, after the departure of the goldfinch, the beauty of the
previous section fades away, depicting the transience of natural beauty.

Summary

The poet describes his experience of what he witnesses in the Laburnum tree.
It begins by describing how the leaves of the tree are yellow. Moreover, he
notices that the treetop is still and remains silent even in the month of
September.

Due to the autumn season, the tree has lost all its leaves and the seeds are on
the ground. Most noteworthy, the poet uses ‘yellow’ to describe both, the
leaves colour and the sunlight. Over here, yellow represents silence, death and
beauty. Thus, he uses this colour and describes the whole setting perfectly.

After that, he notices that the death-like scene of the tree comes to an end
when a goldfinch bird perches on it. The tree makes a sudden chirrup sound
upon the bird’s arrival. He compares the quickness, speed and alertness of the
bird to that of a lizard.

When she starts moving towards the thickness of the branch, the nestlings
start chirping and flapping their wings. Thus, due to this movement, the tree
also starts shaking and thrilling. Thus, we notice how the poet gives two
contrasting scenarios while describing the tree. First was that it was death-like
and then it gains life after the bird lands on it.

Further, the poet finally realizes that the goldfinch bird and the tree are the
engines of her family. When she brings food for the little birdies, she moves to
the end of the other branch. He describes the bird’s appearance. It has a
striped face which is dark in colour.
After that, her body is yellow and thus blends in with the yellow leaves of the
tree. Finally, after reaching the branch end, she makes a rather sweet chirping
sound. The poet compares this sound to whispering as she flies away in the
limitless sky. Thus, after the bird leaves the tree, the Laburnum tree once
again becomes silent and death-like.

Conclusion of The Laburnum Top

To sum up The Laburnum Top summary, we learn about the sweet and
nurturing relationship between the tree and the bird and how they both play
such important roles in their lives.

‘The Laburnum Top’ by Ted Hughes begins with the description of the
“Laburnum top”. Suddenly, a goldfinch comes and breaks the silence on the
tree-top. It enters through the thickness of the laburnum leaves to its nest.
And, the tree awakes from its slumber and enjoys the “chitterings”, “tremor
of wings”, and “trillings” of the birds. It seems like the tree is trembling and
thrilled by their presence. But, when the mother goldfinch launches herself
away from the branches to the sky, the tree again comes to its previous
state.

Poetic 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-
September sunlight
tree trembles
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.
“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 in several instances. The words such as “chirrup”,
“chitterings”, and “trillings” resonate with the sound of the birds.
7. Metonymy - “the infinite” is a metonym of the sky
8. Synecdoche - “Laburnum top” or the tree itself (the poetic device
employed here is “part for the whole”)
The Laburnum Top Question and Answers
1. What laburnum is called in your language?
Ans: In the Hindi language, the laburnum tree is called ‘Amaltaas’.
2. Which local bird is like the goldfinch?
Ans: Indian Lutino Ringneck is like the goldfinch.

Think it out
1. What do you notice about the beginning and the ending of the poem?
Ans: At the beginning and the ending of the poem, the laburnum tree was
standing still and silent just like death-like.
2. To what is the bird’s movement compared? What is the basis for the
comparison?
Ans: The goldfinch’s movement is compared to that of the lizard because she
was abrupt, sleek and alert. The same movements were observed when she
arrived at the tree and moved to the thickness side of the branch to feed her
young ones.
3. 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.
4. What do you like most about the poem?
Ans: I liked the comparison of the state of the tree before and after the
goldfinch bird arrives and it makes the death-like tree alive.
5. 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.

Note down
1. the sound words - Twitching, chirrup, chitterings, trillings, whispering
2. the movement words - Comes, enters, starts up, flirts out, launches away,
tremble, subside
3. the dominant colour in the poem - Yellow

List the following

1. Words which describe ‘sleek’, ‘alert’ and ‘abrupt’.
2. Words with the sound ‘ch’ as in ‘chart’ and ‘tr’ as in ‘trembles’ in
the poem.
3. Other sounds that occur frequently in the poem.
Ans:
1. Lizard, machine, and suddenness
2. Goldfinch, branch, chitterings, chirrup, trillings, twitching, tremors
3. ‘ing’ sound in words like twitching, chitterings, wings, trillings,
whisperings