LABURNUM TOP

THEME
It is written by Ted Huges. The poem revolves around a Laburnum tree and a
Goldfinch bird. The core theme of the poem shows us the repaying relationship
between the two.

SUMMARY
The poet describes his experience of what he witnesses in the Laburnum tree. It
begins by describing how the leaves of the tree are yellow. Moreover, he notices
that the treetop is still and remains silent even in the month of September.

Due to the autumn season, the tree has lost all its leaves and the seeds are on
the ground. Most noteworthy, the poet uses ‘yellow’ to describe both, the
leaves colour and the sunlight. Over here, yellow represents silence, death and
beauty. Thus, he uses this colour and describes the whole setting perfectly.
After that, he notices that the death-like scene of the tree comes to an end
when a goldfinch bird perches on it. The tree makes a sudden chirrup sound
upon the bird’s arrival. He compares the quickness, speed and alertness of the
bird to that of a lizard.
When she starts moving towards the thickness of the branch, the nestlings start
chirping and flapping their wings. Thus, due to this movement, the tree also
starts shaking and thrilling. Thus, we notice how the poet gives two contrasting
scenarios while describing the tree. First was that it was death-like and then it
gains life after the bird lands on it.
Further, the poet finally realizes that the goldfinch bird and the tree are the
engines of her family. When she brings food for the little birdies, she moves to
the end of the other branch. He describes the bird’s appearance. It has a striped
face which is dark in colour.
After that, her body is yellow and thus blends in with the yellow leaves of the
tree. Finally, after reaching the branch end, she makes a rather sweet chirping
sound. The poet compares this sound to whispering as she flies away in the
limitless sky. Thus, after the bird leaves the tree, the Laburnum tree once again
becomes silent and death-like.

PARAPHRASING
LINES 1-3
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.

LINES 4-9
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.
LINES 10-12
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.

LINES 13-15
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.

GLOSSARY

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
Flirts out – lead on to
Stokes – to add fuel to the engine
Barred – stripy
Eerie – weird and strange
Whistle-chirrup – gentle whisper like the chirping of the bird
Subsides – diminishes