The 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.
The Laburnum Top Summary
The poem starts with a description of the Laburnum tree whose top was still and silent.
Its leaves had turned yellow and seeds had fallen down. It was a daytime in the month of
September when the tree was standing still and death-like.
The life-less tree becomes alive by the arrival of the Goldfinch bird. She came to feed her
younger ones who are on the thickness of the branch. The tree is her shelter. She arrives
at the end of the branch with the chirping sound. She further moves to the other side of
the branch with rapid and precautionary movement like a lizard. As soon as she arrives, her
younger ones start chirping like a machine and vibrating and flapping their wings. The
death-like tree becomes alive and it trembles and shakes.
After feeding them, she flies to the other side of the branch. Her dark coloured face with
the yellow body was barely visible as she vanished behind the yellow leaves. She flew
away in the sky, leaving the tree death-like again.

The Laburnum Top Poem Explanation

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.

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 chitterlings, 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 precautiouns like a lizard, sits on the branches
of the tree. As she moved towards the thickness of the branch, her younger ones started
chirruping and doing vibrations with wings, 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.

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.

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-
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

The Laburnum Top Question and Answers

Find out
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
2. the movement words
3. the dominant colour in the poem.
Ans:
 1. Twitching, chirrup, chitterings, trillings, whispering
2. Comes, enters, starts up, flirts out, launches away, tremble, subside
3. 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