laburnum-top-explanation.pdf

Laburnum Top

1. THE LABURNUM TOP
-Ted Hughes
PRESENTED BY
PREETIMA KHANDELWAL

2. ABOUT THE POET
ØBorninYorkshire,England.
ØEdwardJamesTedHugheswasanEnglishpoet,
translator,andchildren'swriter.
ØHispoeticinspiration–
Focusedontheintimateinfluencethatanimalsof
forests,treesandtheskyhaveonsensitivehuman
spirit.

3. INTRODUCTION
uThepoemrevolvesaroundaLaburnumtreeanda
Goldfinchbird.
uThepoemconsistsofthreestanzaswritteninfreeverse.
uTheeventsofthepoemtakeplaceoveraperiodofafew
minutes.

4. THEME
TheLaburnumTreegivessheltertothe
birdanditsyoungchicks.
Thebird,inturn,takesawayitsdead
silence.
Thusthepoetwantstotellthe
importanceofco-existence.

5. STYLE
ØThe poem is written in free verse.
ØAs it is in free verse, there is no fixed rhyme scheme

6. VOCABULARY
uLaburnum:TheGoldenChaintree.Acommonlyfoundtreewithgoldenflowersthathanginbunches.
uGoldfinch:Asmall,yellowbird.
uTwitch:Small,ofteninvoluntarymovementofabodypart
uChirrup:Anonomatopoeicwordcapturingthesoundmadebyabird
uStartlement:Amazement,asuddenunexpectedactionwhichcausessurprise
uSleek:Smooth.Inthecontextofthepoem,itcouldimplyaquickmovementwithoutmuchdisruption.
uAbrupt:Suddenorunexpected
uChitterings:birdsounds
uTremor:Shiver,shake

7. VOCABULARY
uTrillings:Singingrepeatedly.Inthecontextof
thepoem,anonomatopoeicword,capturingbird
sounds.
uStokes:Addsfuel.Inthecontextofthepoem,
thegoldfinchfeedsitsfamily,providingthefuel
(nutrition)thatthemachine(thebird'sfamily)
needstobeenergetic
uFlirts:Inthecontextofthepoem,moveabruptly
orjerkilywithlightsteps
uEerie:Strangeinafrighteningormysteriousway
uInfinite:Inthecontextofthepoem,thesky
uLaunches:Inthecontextofthepoem,flies
uSubsides:Returns,reducesinintensity

8. VALUE POINTS FROM THE POEM
uThepoemisaboutamutuallybeneficialrelationship
betweenLaburnumTreeandtheGoldfinchbird.
uAtfirst,theLaburnumtreeissilentandstill.Itlooksempty
andquiet.
uMotherGoldfincharrivesattheLaburnumToptofeedher
youngonesandthetreebecomesalive.
uGoldfinchissleek,abruptandalertlikealizard.
uThePoetcomparesthereturnofthemothertoanengine
startingandsettingamachineinmotion.
uThemotherbirdthenheadsouttotheendofabranchand
fliesoffandthetreebecomessilentagain.

9. EXPLANATION-STANZA 1
The Laburnum top is silent, quite still
In the afternoon yellow September sunlight,
A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen.
Intheabovelines,thepoetsaysthatduringtheafternoon
ofanautumnalSeptembersunlightthetopmostpartof
theLaburnumTreeiscalm,withoutanymovement.The
leavesofTheLaburnumTreeareturningyellowandalso
theseedshavefallendown.
Thepoethasusedtheword‘yellow’forleavesand
sunlight.Yellowsymbolizessilenceandbeauty.

10. KEY WORDS OF THE STANZA

11. EXPLANATION-STANZA 2
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.
It is the engine of her family.
She stokes it full, then flirts out to a branch-end
Showing her barred face identity mask.
Thegoldfinchhashernestinthetreeandherchicksarerestinginthenest.Onthe
mother’sreturn,asuddenmovementstirsthetree.Herlittleonesareexcitedonher
arrivalandstartupwithshort,quickhighpitchedchirrupings.Thechicksshaketheir
wingsactivelywithrepeatedshortchitteringsounds.Themotherentersthetreewith
greatcaresothatnopredatorcancometoknowthatherbabiesarehousedinthe
nest.
Thepoethascomparedthealert,abruptandsleekmovementoftheGoldfinchwiththatof
alizard.TheGoldfinchhasbeencalledtheengineofherfamily.Justastheenginestarts
upthemachine,herarrivalinthenesthassuddenlystartedupthesilentmachine(nest)
i.e.theyoungoneshavestartedchitteringandmakingnoise.
Byfeedingheryoungones,shehasaddedfueltothemachineandasaresultthechicks
nowhavetheenergytobeactiveandmakenoise.Afterfeedingherchicks,theGoldfinch
fliesupandrestsontheendofabranchofthetree,heridentityconcealedbehindthe
yellowflowersandyellowingleaves.

12. KEY WORDS OF THE STANZA

13. EXPLANATION-STANZA 3
Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings
She launches away, towards the infinite
And the laburnum subsides to empty.
Thegoldfinchmakesastrangeshort,high-pitched
sound.Aftersometime,shefliesawaytowardsthe
infinitesky.TheLaburnumtreebecomescalmand
quietagainasitwasbeforethearrivaloftheGoldfinch.

14. KEY WORDS OF THE STANZA

15. POETIC DEVICES
uAlliteration-repetitionofaconsonantsoundatthebeginningoftwoormore
consecutivewords.Septembersunlight,treetrembles
uSimile–Comparisionbetweentwothingsusinglikeoras.“Sleekasalizard”-
Thegoldfinch’smovementiscomparedtothatofthelizardbecauseshewas
abrupt,sleekandalert.
uMetaphor–Anindirectcomparisionbetweentwothings.“Sheentersthe
thickness,andamachinestartsup”-Thenoisecreatedbythemovementofthe
birdsiscomparedtothemachine’snoise.
“Itistheengineofherfamily.”-Theengineisthesourcetorunthemachine.
Thebirdiscomparedtotheengineassheisthefeederofherfamily.Asamachine
cannotworkwithoutanengine,herfamilycan’tlastwithouther.

16. POETIC DEVICES
uOnomatopoeia-Resonatethesoundofthebird-Chirrup,whisperings,
chitterings,trillings-
uPersonification-whereanimals,plantsoreveninanimateobjectsare
givenhumanqualities–resultinginapoemfullofimageryand
description.“Thewholetreetremblesandthrills.”-Theattributionof
personalnaturecharacteristicstonon-humans.
uTransferredEpithet-“herbarredfaceidentitymask”-Itmeansthetransfer
ofadjectivefromonenountotheother.TheflowersofLaburnumare
barred(havingbars,striped).Buthereitisplacedbeforethebird’sface.
Whenthebirdsitsbehindtheflowers,theshadowonherfacelookslikeshe’s
wearingamaskthathasbarsonit.

17. IMPORTANT TO KNOW
Thetreetopisstillandremainssilenteveninthemonthof
September.
Duetotheautumnseason,thetreehaslostallitsleavesandthe
seedsareontheground.
Mostnoteworthy,thepoetuses‘yellow’todescribeboth,the
leavescolorandthesunlight,yellowrepresentssilence,deathand
beauty.
Thetreemakesasuddenchirrupsounduponthebird’sarrival.
Thus,duetothismovement,thetreealsostartsshakingand
thrilling.
Finally,
Afterthebirdleavesthetree,theLaburnumtreeonceagain
becomessilentanddeath-like.

18. THANK YOU