Class XI

English Hornbill
The Laburnum
Top Notes

About the Poem

Ted Hughes is the author of the poem "The Laburnum Top." The premise of the poem
revolves around the Laburnum tree and the Goldfinch bird having a mutually beneficial
relationship. The poem's central theme depicts the two's reciprocal friendship. The bird
and her young ones provide life to the tree, which is yellow, motionless, and dying.
The yellow bird builds her nest in the tree and feeds her young ones. However, as
soon as the bird takes off to fly over the sky, the tree falls quiet and lifeless once more.

SYNOPSIS
• The poem begins with the description of the laburnum top which is still and silent on a
September afternoon.
• Due to the autumn season, the leaves have started turning yellow and the seeds have
fallen on the ground.
• The seemingly lifeless tree becomes alive on the arrival of the goldfinch
• The goldfinch perches on the end of the branch with a chirping sound, thereby breaking
the silence of the tree.
• She enters the thickness of the tree and makes her way to the nest with a swift, abrupt
and alert movement of a lizard.
• A machine of chitterings starts up.
• The young ones start chirping and flapping their wings and the tree is filled up with a
series of short, high pitched, twittering sounds.
• Thus, the quiet and still tree becomes alive and begins to tremble and shake as if it is
excited and thrilled.
• After feeding her young ones, the goldfinch flies to the end of the branch.
• Her striped face with yellow body helps her to camouflage and she is only partly visible.
• She comes out of the branch end and flies away to the sky.
• The laburnum tree becomes calm and quiet again.
EXPLANATION

The Laburnum top is silent, quite still

In the afternoon yellow
September sunlight,
A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen
In the above lines, the poet says that he saw a laburnum tree, the top of which was still and
silent in broad daylight of September month. It was autumn season so the leaves had turned
yellow and the seeds had fallen. The poet has predominantly used yellow colour in the above
lines. ‘Yellow’ symbolizes silence, desolation, death, and decay.

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.
These lines mean that with the arrival of the goldfinch, there is a sudden movement on the
tree. The goldfinch makes a sudden chirruping sound sitting on the branch end and its
movement is swift and rapid as she is sleek, precautious and swift like a lizard. Then she
moves towards the thickness of the branch, making her way into the nest. Her young ones
start chirruping and shaking with excitement, flapping their wings and making a series of
high-pitched sounds which can be compared to the starting of a machine when its engine is
ignited. Due to the movement of the bird and her young ones, the tree also comes to life as it
suddenly begins to shake, as if in excitement. The poet has given two contrasting
descriptions of the tree. At first, the laburnum top was motionless, silent and still before the
arrival of the goldfinch and then it suddenly sprung into life due to the shaking movement
and sounds caused by the action of the goldfinch.

It is the engine of her family.

She stokes it full, then flirts out to a branch-end
Showing her barred face identity mask
……it means the Goldfinch is called the engine of her family. Just as an engine is required
to start up a machine, the bird’s young ones also need her support. She provides food to her
young ones and makes them active and full of energy before moving out briskly to the
branch- end. Her striped face is her identity mask as the bars on her face serve as mask for
her identity. The barred pattern on her face helps her to hide 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.

IT means that after reaching the end of the branch, the goldfinch makes a sweet and gentle
chirruping sound like that of some mysterious whispering and flies away towards the limitless
sky. After she is gone, the laburnum tree becomes still and silent again just like it was before
the arrival of the goldfinch.

VOCABULARY:
Laburnum - a short tree with hanging branches, yellow flowers, and poisonous seeds
Goldfinch - a small singing birds with yellow feathers on its wings
Twitching - sudden movement or jerk
Chirrup - repeated high pitched sound made by a bird
Startlement - feeling or showing sudden shock
Sleek- smooth or quick movement without interruption
Abrupt - rapid, unusual suddenness
Chitterings - a series of short, high sounds
Tremor - a slight, shaking movement ,flapping of wings
Trillings - a series of quick, repeated high notes
Trembles – shakes
Thrills - a sudden feeling of excitement
Flirts out - moves briskly and abruptly
Stokes - to provide fuel to the engine
Barred – striped
Eerie - strange in a frightening or mysterious way
Infinite – limitless
Whistle chirrup - gentle whisper like the chirping of the bird
Subsides - diminishes or reduces in intensity

THINK IT OUT :

Q1. What do you notice about the beginning and the ending of the poem?
Ans. The poem begins on a very melancholic note. The laburnum is described as
standing silent and still. There is no sign of movement. The leaves of the tree have
started turning yellow and the seeds have already fallen. It indicates the season of
autumn. At the end of the poem, the laburnum is left silent once again. This time the
silence brings in a note of emptiness in the poem after all the commotion that the
goldfinch has caused. When she leaves the tree, ‘the laburnum subsides to empty’
and becomes still and silent again.
Q2. To what is the bird’s movement compared? What is the basis for the
comparison?
Ans. The poet has made use of the poetic device of simile in comparing the
movement of the goldfinch to that of a lizard. A lizard moves in a sleek and smooth
manner, reflecting a lot of dexterity, alertness and quickness in its movement. The
movement of the goldfinch into the thickness of the tree is ‘sleek’, ‘alert’ and ‘abrupt’,
which is quite similar to the movement of a lizard.
Q3. Why is the image of the engine evoked by the poet?
Ans. An engine refers to the driving force that brings a machine into action.The poet
evokes the image of a machine starting up when the goldfinch arrives. The poet
makes the comparison of the goldfinch with an engine as she is the source of energy
for her young ones. The sudden noise and movement of the young ones are like the
starting of a machine. Just as an engine is required to start up a machine, the bird’s
young ones also need her support. The stoking of the engine is actually the act of
feeding the young ones, thereby imparting energy and life into them.

Q4. What do you like most about the poem?

Answer: I like the simplicity and the pictorial presentation of the poem.

The poem is about the laburnum tree which is still and silent and losing its leaves. It
bursts into life when a goldfinch comes to feed her chicks. After her departure, the
tree becomes empty and silent again. The life and energy that the bird brings to the
tree is its most attractive feature of the poem.it has a beautiful description of the
relationship between the tree and the bird which gives the importance of mutual
interdependence and having cordial relationships in life. The comparison between
bird’ s movement with machine and lizard is nice .Besides, the chirruping and trillings
of the bird is also captivating .

Q5. What does the phrase “her barred face identity mask mean?

Ans; The phrase refers to the face of the bird that is covered with fur of different
colours and which looks like a mask making it the identity of the bird .It refers to the
appearance of the goldfinch bird .The bird ‘s body is yellow while it has white stripes
on its face .Its striped face looks like bars that acts as its identity mask amidst the
yellow flowers of laburnum tree. Her barred or covered makes her recognizable and
makes it her identity mask.

List the following:

1. the sound words

Chirrup, machine starts up, chitterings, whistle-chirrup whisperings, trillings, engine,
stokes it full, subsides to empty.

2. the movement words

Seeds fallen, sleek as a lizard, enters the thickness, tremor of wings, tree trembles
and thrills, flirts out ,launches away.
3. the dominant colour in the poem.
The Laburnum tree has yellowing leaves, sitting still in the afternoon yellow sunlight. The
goldfinch, a bird full of yellow feathers flies on to its branches to sit and sing. The dominant
colour in all the descriptions in the poem is yellow.

The Laburnum Top List the following

Question 1.
Words which describe ‘sleek’, ‘alert’ and ‘abrupt’.
Answer:
Sleek – Smooth, Polished, Effortless
Alert – Watchful, Careful, Brisk, Active
Abrupt – Hasty, Quick, Sudden, Rushed

The Laburnum Top Extra Questions

Extra Questions

Q1. What is the significance of yellow colour in the poem? Ans. It is important to note that
yellow colour is predominantly used by the poet in the setting of the poem. The description of
yellow leaves, yellow sunlight and even the goldfinch which has yellow feathers is
remarkable. The yellow colour used in the poem not only creates a visual impact but also
signifies silence, desolation and decay.

Q2. What happened when the goldfinch came to the laburnum tree? Ans. The arrival of the
goldfinch brought about a sudden change in the tree. The tree which was quiet and still
suddenly became full of life with the arrival of the goldfinch. The young ones started
twittering and there was a lot of noise, commotion and movement on the tree. The whole
tree trembled and thrilled.

Q3. Why has the poem been named ‘The Laburnum Top’? Ans. The poem has been named
‘The Laburnum Top’ because the top of the tree has been described in detail by the poet. All
the activity in the poem takes place around the tree top. The leaves of the laburnum top
have turned yellow due to the autumn season. Its seeds have fallen and there is a silence
prevailing over the tree. There is no movement at all on the laburnum top before the arrival
of the goldfinch. It is here that the goldfinch has made her nest and causes a commotion
when she comes to feed her young ones.

Q4. Give a brief account of the sounds and movements of the goldfinch on the laburnum
top. Ans. The goldfinch chirps and suddenly settles on the end of a branch on the top of the
laburnum tree. Then quite suddenly and watchfully she enters the middle part of the tree.
She moves smoothly like a lizard. Then the tree is filled up with a series of short, quick high
pitched twittering sounds and flapping of wings. The whole tree shakes slightly and is
excited. It seems as if a machine has started working in the thickness of the tree which
houses the family of goldfinch. She stokes the engine ofher family before leaving the tree
and flying off to the infinite. The laburnum top regains its silence and stillness after the
goldfinch has flown away.

Q5. How does the laburnum tree play a central role in the poem ‘The Laburnum Top’? Ans.
The laburnum tree is very important in the poem as the entire action in the poem revolves
around the tree itself. It is like the pivot on which the lives of the birds oscillate. The tree is
the confluence where both the beginning and ending get mingled with each other. At the
very beginning of the poem, the poet describes the laburnum tree top, the seeds of which
have fallen and its leaves have turned yellow. In the afternoon of September, the tree top
remains silent until a goldfinch appears. With the arrival of the goldfinch, there is a sudden,
strong tremor in the tree; noises of twitching of wings and chirping of the young ones. The
bird is the stimulus which has led the entire tree to tremble. After feeding its young ones, the
goldfinch launches itself again towards the sky in its own mysterious way and the laburnum
is reduced to silence and emptiness again.The laburnum tree plays a central role in the
poem ‘The Laburnum Top’.