A Laburnum Top/by Ted Hughes/ Central idea/ Explanations of stanzas/ Poetic devices

                  THE LABURNUM TOP  

                                   -by Ted Hughes

Central idea :-

The poem ' The laburnum top' is a beautiful poem in which the poet has used the laburnum tree and Goldfinch as a symbol of life and its fluctuations . In this poem the poet describe how the visit of a Goldfinch changes the laburnum tree. The Goldfinch transforms the tree and make it come alive as the chicks of the Goldfinch start to Rustle and chirp on seeing her. Once the Goldfinch leaves the tree it becomes quite and still again. The laburnum tree symbolises the pattern of our life in general which is usually dull and inanimate. The Goldfinch break the usual pattern and make it lively. Without the Goldfinch , the laburnum  tree is just like another tree. In other words it is the attitude of a person towards life that makes  the meaningful and worth living.

EXPLANATIONS OF STANZAS 

1. The Laburnum top is silent, quite still 

In the afternoon yellow September sunlight,

A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen 

Word meanings- Laburnum top: A part of Laburnum tree 

Explanation- The poet describe a beautiful sunny autumn. The laburnum tree is silent and still. It is laden with yellow leaves and yellow flowers in September. Its leaves have turned yellow because of the autumn season and all its seeds have fallen.

2. Till the Goldfinch comes,with the twitching chirrup ,

 The suddenness , astartlement, at the branch end,

 Then sleek as a lizard ,and alert ,and abrupt,

 She enters the thickness ,and 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 stroked it full, then flirts out to a branch-end 

Showing her barredd face identity mask.

Word meaning-

Goldfinch- a small yellow bird 

Twitching- a small,  often involuntary movement of the body 

Chirrup - the sound made by bird

Startlement- amazement 

Sleek - smooth 

Abrupt - suddenly 

Chittering- sound made by birds 

Tremor- shaking 

Trilling -  to sing a series of quickly repeated high notes 

Trembles and thrills- shakes violently 

Bared-striped

Flirts- moves abruptly or jerkily with light steps

Explanation-  Just then a Goldfinch alights on the laburnum tree making short ,high- pitched sound. The Goldfinch has a nest in the tree and her chicks are resting in the nest. On the mother the return , a sudden movement stirs the tree. Her little ones are excited on her arrival and start chirrping. The cautious mother enter the tree with great care so that no Predator can come to know that her babies are housed in the nest.

The poem has compared the alert ,abrupt and sleek movement of the Goldfinch with that of a lizard. The Goldfinch has been called the engine of a family. Just as the engine starts up the machine on her arrival in the nest has suddenly started up the silent machine that is the young ones have started chittering and making noise. By feeding her young ones she has added fuel to the machine and as a result the Chicks have the energy to be active and make noise.

After feeding her check the Goldfinch flies up and rest on the end of a branch of the tree, her  identity concealed behind the yellow flowers and yellow leaves.

3. Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup

 Whispering she launches away, towards the infinite 

And the Laburnum subsides to empty.

Word meaning- 

eerie : strange in a frightening or mysterious way

Launches: flies 

Infinite: the sky 

Subsides to empty: becomes silent, just as earlier

Explanation-

After sometime, the Goldfinch makes a  strange short , high pitched  sound. Then she flies away towards the infinite Sky . The laburnum tree become silent again after the departure of the Goldfinch and everything seems to be the same as it was before the arrival of the Goldfinch.

POETIC DEVICES 

Similie-  In this figure of speech ,one thing is compared to another. An example of simile in this poem is  'sleek as a lizard'.

 Metaphor-  In this figure of speech, a word/ phrase is used to represent something else .Examples of metaphor in this poem are,' engine of a family ' where engine represent some other Goldfinch and the 'machine' which represent the nest with its root of bird chicks.

Alliteration-  In this figure of speech a number of words having the same first consonant sound occur  close together in a series . Examples of alliteration in this poem are ,'September sunlight' ,' A suddenness ,a  startlement' and 'alert and abrupt' and ' tree tremble and thrills'.

Onomatopoeia-  In this figure of speech a word is formed from a sound similar to it.  Examples of onomatopoeia in this poem are ' twitching chirrup', 'chitterings' ,'trillings', and 'whistle-chirrup'.

Transferred Epithet- A transferred epithet is a description which refers to a character or event but is used to describe different situation or character . 'Her barred faced identity mask' is an example of transferred epithet in this poem  The flowers of the laburnum tree feel like bar and when the birds sit behind the flowers were the shadow of the flowers on a face looked like she is wearing a mask that has bars on it.