Laburnum Top

Summary

Laburnum is a very strong tree. It is clad in yellow leaves and flowers in September. On the top of it there is a nest and in it are a few nestlings; babies of a goldfinch bird. The tree is strong and silent now. Suddenly it began to swing, move sideways and shake like a storm! What caused this sudden change? Who moved the strong tree? It was not by any wind or earthquake. It was by the little ones of the goldfinch who made this violent movement. This poem is all about the power of love. On one side the mother goldfinch that goes out early in the morning in search of food for its babies. After a while it returns with food and the young ones scramble for her, for the food she brought. We do not know which is stronger yet there is it – longing for the mother.

On the other there is a over protective mother goldfinch – who leaves her little ones in maximum safety – yellow birds in yellow foliage of the laburnum tree. Notice how she returns – as stealthily as a lizard, hiding her barred identity only once as a password for her little ones.

Stanza 1
 “The Laburnum Top is silent, quite still
 in the afternoon yellow September sunlight, 
A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen. 

1. Why is the laburnum top silent? 
The top of the laburnum tree is silent because the goldfinch nestling(s) in the nest is/are anxiously awaiting its/their mother’s return with food.

2. What is the significance of ‘yellow’ in the poem?
 As the poem highlights the high security that the mother bird ensures for her babies, yellow has great implications in the poem. Both the laburnum tree and the goldfinch’s feathers yellow in color, the babies escape being noticed by any predator with the camouflaging effect.

3. How does the laburnum ensure security for the nestlings?

 Apart from the popular belief that the laburnum seeds and even its bark and leaves are poisonous, the laburnum top, rather than its bottom, is a safe area for the nestlings. With the yellow flowers and the yellowing leaves and a yellow breed of goldfinches, the babies are safer than elsewhere.

Stanza 2
 Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup 
A suddeness, a startlement, at a branch end.
 Then sleek as a lizard, and alert and abrupt,
 She enters the thickness,and a machine starts up
 Of chitterings, and of tremor of wings,and trillings.

1. What happens to the laburnum when the goldfinch mother returns?
 On the mother’s return, a sudden movement stirs the tree. Her little ones are excited over her arrival and they start chirruping.

2. Why is the goldfinch stealing into her nest? 
The cautious mother goldfinch enters the tree with great care that no predator would spot her babies securely housed in the nest.

 3. What is the machine that starts up with the mother’s entry? 
The machine in the poem is the combined effect of the love for mother and for food born by the nestlings in the nest along with the excited chirrups that they create to welcome their mother and their food.

Stanza 3
The whole tree trembles and thrills
 It is the engine of her family. 
She stokes it full, then flirts out to a branch-end
 Showing her barred face identity mask.

1. What is the engine of the machine? What is its fuel?
 The nest is the engine of the goldfinch family. With the little ones inside, chirruping and eating and playing with each other, the mother bird gets her life of it. As fuel to an engine, the goldfinch family’s fuel is not just the food that the mother brings, it is the mother’s love as well.

2. Why does the bird flirt out to a branch end showing her barred face identity mask? 

The mother bird is over cautious about safety but at the same time it is eager to reveal her identity to her babies. A barred mark behind the neck is her mark of recognition. By showing them this identity mark, the mother bird is calling their attention to her, reminding them that she is their mother.

Stanza 4 Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings

 She launches away, towards the infinite

 And the laburnum subsides to empty” 

1. Where does the mother bird fly to? 

Probably the mother bird is leaving the babies for more fuel, food, before they grew hungry again.

 2. What happens to the laburnum with the mother’s departure?

 With the mother bird’s departure, the laburnum tree shrinks to silence again. 

NCERT Questions with Answers

Think It Out 

1. What do you notice about the beginning and the ending of the poem? 

 Ans: In the beginning of the poem the tree is calm & silent & in the ending it ends with motionless & empty level.  

2. To what is the bird’s movement compared? What is the basis for the comparison? 

Answer 

The goldfinch’s movement is compared to that of a lizard. The basis of the comparison is the sleek, abrupt and alert movements of a lizard. The same kinds of movements are observed when the goldfinch arrives on the laburnum tree. 

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

Answer 

The engine is the source of energy to run machine. It is compared to bird as she is too a source of energy for her family. As without engine a machine can’t work in the same without a bird her family can’t survive. 

4. What do you like most about the poem? 

Answer 

I like the simplicity and pictorial presentation of the poem. The comparison between bird's movement with machine and Lizard made in nice way. Also chirruping & trilling of goldfinch. 

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

Answer

The phrase means that the bird’s barred or covered face becomes her identity mask recognition. 

Reference: 

1. https://www.studyrankers.com/2014/12/laburnum-top-class-11th-ncert-solution.html

2. https://www.kiddingtown.com/the-laburnum-top-ted-hughes-summary-line-by-line-explanation-questions-and-answers/