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Term I :- (Write only highlighted vocab words and questions and answers in your copies), 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., 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, a 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., Word meanings, 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.
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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., Word meanings, 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 precautions 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, Word meanings, Flirts out – lead on to
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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., Word meanings, 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., 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 followsSeptember 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
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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, 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
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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, Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type, Question 1., Why is the poem named ‘The Laburnum Top’?, Answer:, The poem has been named ‘The Laburnum Top’ because the top of the Laburnum tree has been, described in detail in the poem. 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., Question 2., What is the significance of ‘yellow’ in the poem?, Answer:, 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.
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Question 3., ‘Then sleek as a lizard and alert and abrupt, She enters the thickness’. Explain the given line., Answer:, The lizard is a quick moving animal. It is also very alert and its movements are sudden. In the given line,, the arrival of the goldfinch on the Laburnum tree is described. The poet describes its movements as, alert and sudden just like that of a lizard. This is done to avoid getting the attention of the predators., Question 4., What is the engine of the machine? What is its fuel?, Answer:, The goldfinch has been called the engine of her family. Just as the engine starts up the machine, the, goldfinch’s arrival in the nest has suddenly started the machine i.e. the young ones in the nest have, started making noise. The fuel of the engine is the food that the goldfinch brings for her chicks., Question 5., Explain the line, ‘And the Laburnum subsides to empty’., Answer:, This is the last line of the poem. It describes that with the departure of the goldfinch from the Laburnum, tree, it falls silent. The tree was noisy and lively when the goldfinch came to feed its chicks, but it reverts, to its earlier self after its departure from the tree., Long Answer Type, Question 1., 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?, Answer:, 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.
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Change can be good or bad in life depending on a situation. However, the fact is that change is the only, constant in life. So, even if a change is bad, we have to accept it and move on in life., Question 2., 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.
