Class XI English (Hornbill Book) Poem 2 – The Laburnum Top By Ted Hughes
Class 11 English (Hornbill Book) Poem 2 – The Laburnum Top
By Ted Hughes
The Laburnum Top Introduction of the Poem
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.
✍️ About the Poet – Ted Hughes
• Full Name: Edward James Hughes
• Pen Name: Ted Hughes
• Born: 17 August 1930, Yorkshire, England
• Died: 28 October 1998
📚 Literary Background:
• Ted Hughes was a renowned English poet, translator, and children’s writer.
• He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1984 until his death in 1998.
• His poetry is known for its powerful imagery, themes of nature, animal life, and human emotions.
• He often focused on the raw beauty and brutality of the natural world.
• His style blends observation of the physical world with deep symbolic meaning.
🌿 Connection to “The Laburnum Top”:
• In The Laburnum Top, Hughes uses natural imagery to show the relationship between a goldfinch (a bird) and a laburnum tree.
• The poem reflects his love for nature, his keen observation, and his ability to find life and energy even in stillness.
• It is a fine example of his nature-centric, symbolic style.
The Laburnum Top 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 the 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.
🎯 Theme of the Poem – “The Laburnum Top”
🌿 Theme:
The poem highlights the interdependence between nature and animals, showing how a lifeless tree (the laburnum) comes alive through the presence of a bird (the goldfinch). It emphasizes themes of revival, energy, and the mutual relationship between living beings and their environment.
1. Nature and Life
• The poem begins with a quiet, almost dead laburnum tree.
• When the goldfinch arrives, the tree is filled with movement, sound, and life.
• This shows how even the simplest elements of nature are interconnected.
2. Energy and Transformation
• The tree is transformed by the presence of the bird — from silence to a scene of excitement and activity.
• This shows how a small creature can bring great change — a metaphor for unseen or gentle forces in life that bring vitality.
3. Motherhood and Care
• The goldfinch comes to feed her young, hidden in the tree.
• The tree provides shelter, the bird provides food and care — together, they create a harmonious cycle of life.
4. Momentary Beauty and Silence
• The energy is brief — once the bird leaves, the tree is silent again.
• It reminds us that life is full of fleeting yet beautiful moments.
🌳 Characters & their Sketchs:
🌿 1. The Laburnum Tree
🌳 Character Sketch:
• The laburnum tree is the central natural setting of the poem.
• It appears silent, still, and lifeless at the beginning — described as “silent” and “yellow” in September (a time when leaves fall).
• It symbolizes stillness, loneliness, and dormant nature — possibly even death.
• But when the goldfinch arrives, the tree transforms into a hub of life and energy.
• It becomes alive, vibrant, and full of movement, showing its interdependence with the bird.
• By the end, as the bird flies away, the tree returns to stillness.
🔹 Symbolism: The laburnum tree symbolizes nature’s cycle of dormancy and revival, and also represents the quiet support system (like a parent or protector).
🐦 2. The Goldfinch (Bird)
🐤 Character Sketch:
• The goldfinch is the small bird that brings life and energy to the tree.
• She is described as alert, cautious, quick, and energetic.
• Comes to feed her young hidden in the tree — reflecting motherly care and responsibility.
• Her arrival transforms the tree — her chirping and fluttering animate the surroundings.
• She is compared to a machine starting up, indicating sudden and intense activity.
• She is described as wearing a “striped face” — emphasizing her beauty and uniqueness.
• Once she leaves, silence returns — showing her powerful presence.
🔹 Symbolism: The goldfinch represents life, energy, motherhood, movement, and the spirit of nature.
🐣 3. The Goldfinch’s Chicks (mentioned indirectly)
👶 Character Sketch (Implied):
• The baby birds are not described in detail but are important.
• They are hidden in the tree’s thickness — waiting for the mother.
• Their presence is what draws the goldfinch, creating the central action of the poem.
• They symbolize new life, dependence, and the next generation in nature.
The Laburnum Top Poem and Explanation
Stanza - 1
Laburnum – a short tree with hanging branches, yellow flowers, and poisonous seeds
Exp- 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.
Stanza - 2
Goldfinch – a small singing birds with yellow feathers on its wings
Exp- 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 precautiouns 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.
Flirts out – lead on to
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.
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.
✨ Poetic Devices in “The Laburnum Top”
1. Imagery
Definition: Use of vivid and descriptive language to create mental pictures.
Example:
“The laburnum top is silent, quite still / In the afternoon yellow September sunlight.”
Explanation:
Creates a strong visual image of a quiet, sunlit tree. The reader can almost see the golden leaves and feel the stillness.
2. Alliteration
Definition: Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of nearby words.
Example:
“September sunlight”
“tree trembles”
Explanation:
Adds musical quality and rhythm to the poem. It draws attention to specific phrases and enhances the mood.
3. Personification
Definition: Giving human qualities to non-human objects.
Example:
“It is the engine of her family”
Explanation:
The bird (goldfinch) is compared to an engine, suggesting she powers the tree’s activity — like a human might power a machine.
4. Metaphor
Definition: An implied comparison between two unlike things (without using like or as).
Example:
“It is the engine of her family”
Explanation:
The goldfinch is metaphorically called an engine, showing how her presence activates the whole tree — like turning on a machine.
5. Enjambment
Definition: Continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line.
Example:
“She enters the thickness, and a machine
starts up of chitterings, and a tremor of wings and trillings.”
Explanation:
Helps maintain flow and mirrors the smooth, uninterrupted action of the bird and the tree’s response.
6. Transferred Epithet
Definition: An adjective used with a noun, but it actually refers to a different noun.
Example:
“her barred face / Identity mask”
Explanation:
The bird’s “barred face” refers to her striped feathers, but “identity mask” symbolizes uniqueness and mystery, giving the face human-like quality.
7. Simile (less direct, possibly inferred)
Definition: A comparison using “like” or “as.”
Sleek as a lizard.
The Laburnum Top 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.
Ans:
- Twitching, chirrup, chitterings, trillings, whispering
- Comes, enters, starts up, flirts out, launches away, tremble, subside
- Yellow
List the following
1. Words which describe ‘sleek’, ‘alert’ and ‘abrupt’.
3. Other sounds that occur frequently in the poem.
Ans:
- Lizard, machine, and suddenness
- Goldfinch, branch, chitterings, chirrup, trillings, twitching, tremors
- ‘ing’ sound in words like twitching, chitterings, wings, trillings, whisperings
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