6425d14a16c25 The Laburnum Top

The Laburnum Top
About the Poet
Edward James ‘Ted’ Hughes was a Modern English poet. Among the important poets of the
latter half of the twentieth century, Ted Hughes’ special contribution to English poetry lies in
the creation of a poetic world with a central interest in wild animals and birds. His poetic
inspiration is born out of and focused on the peculiar but intimate influence that animals of
forests, trees and the sky have on a sensitive human spirit.
Points to remember
● The poet has drawn a beautiful picture of an autumn afternoon.

● The laburnum tree is silent and still. Its leaves have turned yellow and some seeds
have fallen.
● The whole tree comes to life with the arrival of the goldfinch.
● Poet has compared the alert, abrupt and sleek movement of the goldfinch with a
lizard.
● After feeding her young ones the goldfinch flies away towards the infinite sky.
● The laburnum tree becomes quiet and
● silent once again. The poet has compared the laburnum tree with a machine which at
the arrival of its starts up engine(goldfinch).
Critical Remarks
● In this poem, the poet has used the Laburnum tree and goldfinches as a symbol of
life and its fluctuations.
● He describes the visiting of goldfinches on the Laburnum tree and how she has made
a nest on it.
● When the goldfinches have chicks, it brings alive the tree as the chicks start to rustle
and chirp.
● Hughes is trying to convey the message that life is a process of exchange and
transformation.
● People are alive because they undergo exchange of energy.
● The goldfinches transform the tree and make it alive, without the goldfinches and the
chicks the laburnum is just another tree.
● The poem examines and articulates the inter relationship between soul and body
through common symbols of bird and tree.
● Though the body and the soul can be separate entities, they are absolutely
complementary to each other-one without the other is incomplete.
● It is in the interaction between the two lies the beauty, vigour, and perfection of
existence.
● Thus the poem shows the states of existence both in the separation of the body and
soul (beginning and end of the poem) and the (middle of the poem) union Which
unmistakably and unambiguously provides the body-the tree- the vigour and the
vitality mandatory for its life and its fulfilment.
● There is an imagery of life and sustenance which is transported through the mother
goldfinch to her young ones. She visits her young ones to feed them and assure
them that she is there. It portends a yellow colour in the background of the laburnum
leaves which speaks of warm but fading sunlight. It also indicates that the mother
goldfinch has to fly far away at the close of autumn season. She also has to ensure a
warm and secure winter for her young ones.
● The laburnum tree symbolizes the pattern of our life in general. Life is seemingly dull
and inanimate, but it is the attitude of a person towards life that makes it meaningful
and worth living. The goldfinch brings cheer, happiness, and mirth to the simple and
inanimate surroundings. Its happiness is infectious and all encompassing.
Paraphrasing
Stanza 1
The Laburnum top is silent, quite still

In the afternoon yellow September sunlight,
A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen.
Explanation
The poet describes a beautiful sunny autumn. The Laburnum tree is silent and still. It is
laden with yellow leaves and yellow flowers in September. Its leaves have turned yellow
because of the autumn season and all its seeds have fallen.
Stanza 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.
It is the engine of her family.
She stokes it full, then flirts out to a branch-end
Showing her barred face identity mask.
Explanation
Just then a goldfinch alights on the Laburnum tree making short, high-pitched sounds. The
goldfinch has her nest in the tree and her chicks are resting in the nest. On the mother’s
return, a sudden movement stirs the tree. Her little ones are excited on her arrival and start
chirruping. The cautious mother enters the tree with great care so that no predator can come
to know that her babies are housed in the nest.
The poet has compared the alert, abrupt and sleek movement of the goldfinch with that of a
lizard. The goldfinch has been called the engine of her family. Just as the engine starts up
the machine, her arrival in the nest has suddenly started up the silent machine (nest) i.e. the
young ones have started chittering and making noise. By feeding her young ones, she has
added fuel to the machine and as a result the chicks now have the energy to be active and
make noise.
After feeding her chicks, the goldfinch flies up and rests on the end of a branch of the tree,
her identity concealed behind the yellow flowers and yellowing leaves.
Stanza 3
Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings

She launches away, towards the infinite
And the Laburnum subsides to empty.
Explanation
After some time, the goldfinch makes a strange short, high-pitched sound. Then she flies
away towards the infinite sky. The Laburnum tree becomes silent again after the departure of
the goldfinch and everything seems to be the same as it was before the arrival of the
goldfinch.
Poetic Devices Used in the Poem

Simile: In this figure of speech, one thing is compared to another. An example of simile in
this poem is ‘sleek as a lizard’.

Metaphor: In this figure of speech, a word/ phrase is used to represent something else.
Examples of metaphor in this poem are ‘engine of her family’, where ‘engine’ represents the
mother goldfinch, and ‘machine’ which represents the nest with its brood of bird chicks.

Alliteration: In this figure of speech, a number of words having the same first consonant
sound occur close together in a series. Examples of alliteration in this ‘poem are ‘September
sunlight’, ‘A suddenness, a startlement’, ‘and alert and abrupt’ and ‘tree trembles and thrills’.

Onomatopoeia: In this figure of speech, a word is formed from a sound similar to it.
Examples of onomatopoeia in this poem are ‘twitching chirrup’, ‘chitterings’, ‘trillings’ and
‘whistle-chirrup’.

Transferred Epithet: A transferred epithet is a 1 description which refers to a character or
event but is used to describe a different situation or character ‘Her barred face identity mask’
is an example of transferred epithet in this poem. The flowers of the Laburnum tree fall like
bars and, when the bird sits behind the flowers, the shadow of the flowers on her face looks
like she is wearing a mask that has bars on it.
Central Theme:
The poem presents the mutual reciprocating relationship between the laburnum tree and the
goldfinch bird. The laburnum tree gives shelter to the bird and its young ones and the bird, in
turn, takes away its dead silence. Thus the poet wants to tell the readers the importance of
interdependence and having cordial relationships
life. Rejuvenation of nature and the celebration of energy is another theme of the poem. The
laburnum tree is silent until the goldfinch comes and enlivens the tree with its activities.
There are all sorts of sounds and movements on the tree. Soon she shoots away into the
sky plunging the
tree into surging silence.
The poet also wants to convey to the readers that life is a process of change and
transformation.
Word meaning:
Laburnum : The Golden Chain tree - A commonly found tree with golden flowers that hang
in bunches
Goldfinch : Wild canary - A small, yellow bird - The male of the species has black markings
across the face, on the wings and tail.
Twitch : Small, often involuntary movement of a body part
Chirrup : An onomatopoeic word capturing the sound made by a bird
Startlement : Amazement - a sudden unexpected action which causes surprise
Sleek : Smooth - In the context of the poem, it could imply a quick movement without much
disruption.
Abrupt : Sudden or unexpected
Chittering : An onomatopoeic word capturing bird sounds
Tremor : Shiver - shake
Trillings : Singing repeatedly - In the context of the poem, an onomatopoeic word, capturing
bird sounds
Stokes : Adds fuel - In the context of the poem, the goldfinch feeds its family, providing the
fuel (nutrition) that the machine (the bird's family) needs to be energetic
Flirts : In the context of the poem, move abruptly or jerkily with light steps
Eerie : Strange in a frightening or mysterious way
Infinite : In the context of the poem, the sky
Launches : In the context of the poem, flies
Subsides : Returns, reduces in intensity

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The Laburnum Top

About the Poet

● The poet has drawn a beautiful picture of an autumn afternoon.

The Laburnum top is silent, quite still

Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup,

Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings

Poetic Devices Used in the Poem

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