The Laburnum Top

The Laburnum Top

                                                          By Ted Hughes

Analysis : 

The story ‘The Laburnum Top’ is composed by Ted Hughes who was an English poet, translator, and children's writer.

The poem is a beautiful interpretation of this world which is represented by the tree and life and living people are represented by the bird.

This poem is a beautiful landscape of an autumn scene with the remarkable use of imagery by the poet who portrays the laburnum tree and the bird with the lively description of vibrant sounds, movements, vitality, and fleeting moments.

The poem portrays the laburnum tree as a timeless force that imparts life to millions of creatures such as the goldfinch bird.

The poem also beautifully emphasises the power of nature that gives life to the existence of every living soul.

The poem explores themes of nature, life, and transience of our life in this world which becomes quiet and lifeless without living souls bringing out the theme of coexistence.

This poem is rich with poetic devices and uses vivid imagery to describe the autumn scene along with personification, metaphor and symbolism.

The poem conveys the message that our life is short lived but life in general never cease to exist. The world is lifeless and meaningless without the existence of humans and other living creatures. Our relation with this world is beautiful and amazing, it needs to be understood and maintained.

 

 

Line by Line Explanation

The Laburnum top is silent, quite still

In the afternoon yellow September sunlight,

A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen.

Explanation :

The poet describes the Laburnum tree, indicating that it is motionless, quiet and seems to be lifeless until a bird comes and sits in the tree. The setting is established as a sunny afternoon in September, with a specific emphasis on the yellow light which symbolises the autumn season. The tree is in the process of shedding its leaves that have turned yellow due to autumn and the seeds have already fallen on the ground as the tree is undergoing its natural cycle during autumn.

Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup

A suddenness, 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 a tremor of wings, and trillings —

The whole tree trembles and thrills.

Explanation :

Then, all of a sudden, the scene undergoes a change with the arrival of a goldfinch, a small bird known for its bright yellow colour. The bird's arrival is accompanied by its distinct chirping which fills the tree with vibrant sounds and removes the dullness and silence. The bird's arrival is sudden and startling, as it lands on a branch of the tree which shakes with tremours and tumults. The poet uses simile to describe the bird's movements, comparing it to a sleek lizard which is known for its alertness and sudden actions for catching its prey. As the bird moves deeper into the leaves of the tree which is, now described metaphorically as a machine which produces sharp sounds and makes sudden movements at the start. The sounds and movements of the bird and its babies within the tree create a cacophony of chirping, fluttering of wings, and tremours of the leaves and the tree. The activity of the bird and its small baby birds within the tree causes the entire tree to vibrate and pulsate with life. 

 

It is the engine of her family.

She stokes it full, then flirts out to a branch-end

Showing her barred face identity mask

Explanation :

Now, the poet compares the tree to an ‘engine’ which is described as a driving force for the life of the bird and its family. Tree is described as the engine for the bird's family as it gives shelter to them, leading their life ahead safely and happily. The way an engine pulls entire vehicle forward, the tree also provides for the life of the bird and its babies in terms of food, shelter, shade, and other necessities. The bird shakes the tree completely with its sudden movements and then, it suddenly moves to the edge of a branch. There, towards the end of the branch the bird is slightly visible as the leaves aren’t thick there. Its slightly visible, and its face is hidden with the streaks of flowers which are described by the poet as the bird’s mask. Here, the branches of flowers of the laburnum tree are described metaphorically as bars that serve as an ‘identity mask’ of the bird. This mask keeps the bird and its family hidden from the dangers and threats. 

 

Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings

She launches away, towards the infinite

And the laburnum subsides to empty.

Explanation :

The bird makes soft and strange sounds as it prepares to depart. These sounds are compared to the sound of a whistle. The bird flies away into the distance, symbolically moving towards the vast expanse of the infinite. With the departure of the bird, the Laburnum tree returns to its quiet, empty state, devoid of the earlier activity and life.

Overall, the poem explores themes of nature, life, and transience of our existence in this world.

 

Message :

The poem conveys the message that our life is short lived but life in general never ceases to exist. The world is lifeless and meaningless without the existence of humans and other living creatures. Our relation with this world is beautiful and amazing; it needs to be understood and maintained. The poem explores themes of nature, life, and transience of our existence in this world which becomes quiet and lifeless without living souls emphasising the message of coexistence.

Poetic Devices :

The Laburnum top is silent, quite still - Personification, Alliteration, Assonance 

In the afternoon yellow September sunlight, - Imagery,  Alliteration, Symbolism 

A few leaves yellowing all its seeds fallen. - Symbolism, Consonance 

Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup - Assonance, Alliteration, Imagery, Onomatopoeia 

A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end. - Alliteration, Repetition 

Then sleek as a lizard, and alert, and abrupt - Simile, Imagery, polysyndeton, Repetition, Assonance 

She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up - Metaphor, Imagery, Consonance 

Of chitterings, and a tremor of wings, and trillings — Assonance, Alliteration, Onomatopoeia, Repetition, Polysyndeton 

The whole tree trembles and thrills - Personification, Alliteration, Consonance 

It is the engine of her family - Assonance, Metaphor

She stokes it full, then flirts out to a branch-end - Metaphor, Alliteration, Imagery, Consonance 

Showing her barred face identity mask - Metaphor, Imagery 

Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings - Metaphor, Imagery, Assonance, Alliteration, Onomatopoeia

She launches away, towards the infinite - Metaphor, Consonance, symbolism

And the laburnum subsides to empty. - Personification 

RTC

 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 —

Q1. What does the word 'machine' refer to? 

Q2. Who is compared to a lizard? Which poetic devices is used here? 

Q3. Why is the bird compared to a lizard? 

Q4. Whose chitterings and trillings are described? 

Q5. Which poetic device is used in third line? 

Answers : 

A1. The word 'machine' refers to the the baby birds in the nest. The goldfinch has kept its chicks in the nest where the branch is thickly covered with the leaves. As the goldfinch arrives, all the babies start making sounds and movements and it appears as if a machine has started.

A2. The bird, goldfinch is compared to a lizard with the use of the poetic device, Simile.

A3. The bird is compared to a lizard due to its alertness and quickness. The bird is alert and quick while entering the thickness of leaves over the nest so that she can avoid the eyes of the predators and keep its babies safe. 

A4. the small chicks are making sharp and happy sounds at the arrival of the mother bird. 

A5. Onomatopoeia (use of sound words)