The Laburnum Top- Ted Hughes

QUESTION AND ANSWERS

1. Explain the first three lines of the poem 'The Laburnum Top'.
Ans: The laburnum is the tree whose top part is silent due to lack of movement.
There is no breeze and hence there is no rustling of leaves. The time of the day is
afternoon. The month is September, and the season is autumn season. The leaves
of the tree have started decaying and turning yellow as they are about to fall. The
seeds of the laburnum fruit have also fallen.

2. Why has the poem being named ‘The Laburnum Top’?

Ans: The poem has been named ‘The Laburnum Top’ because the top of the
Laburnum tree has been described in detail by the poet. It is on top of the
Laburnum tree that the nest of the goldfinch is located and the poet vividly
describes the transformation that the tree undergoes with the arrival of the
goldfinch.
3. 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.

4. Why is the image of the engine evoked by the poet?

Ans: The engine is the source to run the machine. The bird is compared to the
engine as she is the one who feeds her family. As a machine cannot work without
an engine, her family can’t last without her. The image of the engine has been
evoked by the poet to show the stirrings and the sounds and energy that can be
seen when the goldfinch enters the thick leaf cover in the laburnum tree and feeds
her chicks.
4. How is the tree transformed during the bird’s visit?
Ans: The tree suddenly starts trembling and moving as if a machine has started up.
This is due to the arrival of the goldfinch in her nest in order to feed her young
ones. The young ones start chattering and there is a tremor of wings.

5. What does the phrase “her barred face identity mask” means?
Ans: The Laburnum tree has flowers that 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. Thus, ‘barred’ is actually an adjective for the flowers
and has been transferred and applied to the bird. This is an example of the poetic
device – transferred epithet.

6. What do you notice about the beginning and the ending of the poem?
Ans: The beginning of the poem describes a silent laburnum tree which has no
noise, movement or life. The ending is also similar where the goldfinch flies away
into the vast sky after feeding its young ones.

7. Explain the line ‘And the laburnum subsides to empty’.

Ans: This is the last line of the poem depicting the sudden silence which falls over
the laburnum tree when the goldfinch flies away after feeding its young ones. It
had been on the tree for some time and the tree had suddenly become lively and
noisy but after its departure, the tree becomes silent again.

EXTRA QUESTIONS:
1. Why did the goldfinch enter the thickness of the laburnum tree? Quote the line
or words that support your answer.
2. What happened when the goldfinch came to the laburnum tree?

3. ‘It is the engine of her family, she strokes it full.’ Explain the significance of
these lines.

4. ‘She launches away, towards the infinite’. Explain the given line.