THE LABURNUM TOP

‘The Laburnum Top’ by Ted Hughes is a beautiful poem about the progress of life. Change is always there,
but the beginning has always its own taste. Whereas Autumn creates a sensation of future hopelessness,
nature projects the spontaneity of a new starting. The little birds, the bards of nature, voice their life-force
eventuated by the presence of their mother. Even the laburnum tree starts to live again, shedding all its
future worries, and becomes a part of the eternal enjoyment that exists in nature, no matter how
pessimistic the weather is. In this poem, Ted Hughes observes this natural phenomenon occurring on the
top of the laburnum tree and presents his thoughts in the lines of the text. “The Laburnum Top” is a very
powerful poem in which the laburnum symbolizes the hardships in life.
The poem “The Laburnum Top” by Ted Hughes describes the mutual relation between a Laburnum Tree
and a goldfinch. Both of them are yellow in colour (the tree is yellow because of its flowers) and quite
beautiful in appearance.
The poem has been divided into three stanzas. There is no set rhyme scheme. The first stanza describes the
tree before the bird reaches it. The second stanza describes the coming of the bird and the final stanza tells
the condition of the tree when the bird goes away.
In the first stanza, the poet says that he saw a Laburnum Tree (with its yellow flowers). In his words, “The
Laburnum top is silent“. The tree is still and looks dead-like in the daytime of September. Even the sunlight
is also yellow. As it is the time of autumn, the leaves of the tree have turned yellow, and its seeds have
fallen off it.
In this stanza, the poet uses the image “yellow” colour repeatedly. First the tree’s flowers are yellow, then
its leaves have also turned yellow and the sunlight is also yellow. The yellow color symbolizes beauty
(because of flowers, which, though have fallen off in the form of seeds), death (because of yellow leaves) as
well as silence (day time without rain or wind). In the whole stanza, the poet is trying to describe the
miserable condition of the Laburnum Tree which is silent, dying, and without seeds (useless).
The death-like scene however changes as soon as the goldfinch comes with a twitching chirrup. Goldfinch is
a bright yellow coloured bird. Twitching chirrup means “short chirping sounds”. The bird is quite
precautious while sitting at a branch end of the tree and has sudden quick movements. Perhaps it is looking
out for any danger that might be there. It then goes into the thick bark of the Laburnum Tree smoothly but
abruptly with alertness. As soon as she enters the tree (her nest is inside the Laburnum Tree), a machine
starts up of chitterings, and a tremor of wings, and trillings. The
image of the machine here refers to the young ones of the bird. A machine makes a lot of noise when it
starts. Similarly, when the young birds see their mother they start chirping like a machine, flattering their
wings fastly in joy as their mother has come with food. They were hungry as well as sad being far from their
mother. Now the whole tree trembles and thrills because of the mother bird and her young ones. The poet
probably wants us to feel how a dead-like tree becomes alive because it has given space to the bird and her
young ones. The birds have gotten shelter and the tree in return has got life.
The goldfinch is thus the engine of her family which includes the Laburnum tree as well. According to the
poet it fills them with fuel i.e. it gives food to the young ones and thrill to the tree. Having done that, she
again flies to a branch-end. Only her dark-colored striped face is visible as it is yellow and hence becomes
invisible in the yellow leaves of the tree.
Reaching the branch-end of the tree, it makes strange but sweet chirping sounds and then begins his
journey towards the infinite i.e. the sky and the Laburnum Tree again becomes silent and dead-like.
Poetic Devices
‘The Laburnum Top’ by Ted Hughes contains some important poetic devices that make the poem more
interesting to read. Likewise, in the first line, the poet uses personification. Here, the poet personifies the
“Laburnum top” or the tree itself. It is also an example of synecdoche and the variety employed here is
“part for the whole”. There is an alliteration in “September sunlight”. Moreover, in the second stanza, the
poet uses onomatopoeia in several instances. The words such as “chirrup”, “chitterings”, and “trillings”
resonate with the sound of the birds.
In the third line of the second stanza, there is a simile . In the following, the poet uses a metaphor in the
use of the word “machine”. The poet uses a similar kind of metaphor in this line, “It is the engine of her
family”. Here, the implied comparison is between the mother-goldfinch and the engine of a machine. The
idea of “life-force” is associated with this line. In the next stanza, “the infinite” is a metonym of the sky. The
last line contains a metaphor and it depicts the absence of sound, a symbolic reference to lifelessness.

Short Answers
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.How is the tree transformed during the bird’s visit?
After the goldfinch arrives on the tree, the silent and still Laburnum tree suddenly starts trembling and
moving. The whole tree comes to life as the chicks of the goldfinch make a lot of noise as they chitter and
trill on seeing their mother.
3.To what is the movement of the goldfinch compared? What is the basis for the comparison
The movement of the goldfinch is compared to that of a lizard. The basis of the comparison is the sleek,
alert and sudden movements of a lizard. The goldfinch makes similar kind of movements when it arrives on
the Laburnum tree to avoid being noticed by any predator.
4. How does the Laburnum ensure security for the nestlings?
According to popular belief, the bark and the seeds of the Laburnum tree are poisonous. So, predators
normally do not come near the tree. Apart from this, its yellow flowers and yellowing leaves in the autumn
season complemented by the yellow coloured feathers of the goldfinch help in camouflaging the nestlings
from the predators.
LONG ANSWER
What values do you learn from the goldfinch in the poem ‘The ‘Laburnum Top?
Answer:
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 kill them or harm them. The values of safety and security for her offspring is highlighted
in this act of the goldfinch.