Laburnum Top - Notes

Write answers 1-6 in your notebook
THE LABURNUM TOP – TED HUGHES
The Laburnum Top by Ted Hughes deals with the theme of sustenance in the natural world.
1. What do you notice about the beginning and ending of the poem?
• Indicates a silent laburnum tree which has no noise or life
• After the mother goldfinch comes….twittering sound of the birds…tree comes to life
• After the mother bird leaves….tree silent and also emptier than before
2. To what is the bird’s movement compared? What is the basis of the comparison?
• Compared to that of a lizard’s….lizard…quick moving animal…very
alert….movements…twitchy and abrupt
• Goldfinch’s entry…sleek and alert just like the lizard
• The poet uses the comparison to highlight the alert and quick moving qualities of the
bird
3. Why is the image of the engine evoked by the poet?

• Poet creates the imagery of a machine starting up when the goldfinch arrives in the
tree
• The sudden noise and movements of the young ones….like the starting of a machine
• The feeding of young ones….is like the stoking (providing fuel) of an engine
• Just as the stoker feeds coal to the engine, the goldfinch feeds the family
• Hence, metaphorically, the goldfinch’s family is the engine that runes the machine,
the laburnum tree
4. What does the barred face identity mask mean?

• Once the bird finishes feeding its family, it moves to the end of the branch peeping
out in such a way that its black striped face is seen in the yellowness of the tree
• The laburnum tree has flowers that fall like bars and when the bird sits behind the
flowers, her face looks like its wearing a mask that has bars on it
• Thus the bars of flowers were like an identity mask for the bird’s identity
5. Comment on the themes of the poem

• Much like the human world, the mother goldfinch is loving, protective and performs
her role of providing sustenance for her little ones.
• A nest for little yellow birds on top of a tree covered with yellow flowers is the safest
place for them…the perfect camouflage.
• The mother bird’s movements are quick and alert….the bars of flowers helping to
mask her identity
• The tree …a perfect refuge for the birds
• In turn, the bird invigorates the tree
• The little ones are its engine, the mother bird provides the fuel that stokes the
engine
• Thus there is exchange and mutual coexistence between them.
• Based on Ted Hughes’ use of animal symbolism in his poems, the goldfinch has also
been interpreted as symbolic of the industrial revolution or his wife, Sylvia Plath.
6. ‘It is the engine of her family, she stokes it full.’ Explain the significance of these lines.
Metaphorically, the goldfinch’s family is the engine that runs the machine, the laburnum
tree, filling it with noise and activity. Just as a stoker feeds coal to an engine, the goldfinch
“feeds her family”.
7. ‘Then sleek as a lizard and alert and abrupt, she enters the thickness’. Explain the
given lines.
The simile compares the bird with a lizard. The lizard always seems quick and alert, its
movements abrupt or sudden. Similarly, the goldfinch entered the thickness of the branches
with quick, alert and sudden movements to avoid any predators.
8. Why do you think Ted Hughes compares the laburnum tree to a machine?
It is a clear example of the profound influence of industrial revolution wherein
villages/countries were slowly giving way to cities and the natural bounty, agriculture etc.
were being replaced by concrete buildings, machines, industries etc. The poet thus alludes
to the industrial revolution through his poem.
9. What is animal symbolism? How has it been used in the poem?

Hughes is well-known for his nature poetry and use of animal symbolism. 'Animal
Symbolism’ is a poetic technique where animals are used as symbols of something entirely
different and figuratively, much larger. The animals symbolize different human
characteristics while remaining, on the surface, an in-depth poem about the animals. They
act as symbols for the modern world and humankind. In this poem, the poet has used the
Laburnum tree and the goldfinch as a symbol of sustenance in the natural world. The
message conveyed is that life is a process of exchange and transformation. The goldfinch,
and the chicks invigorate the laburnum with their energy whereas the tree provides shelter
and safety to the birds. In metaphorical and autobiographical interpretations, the goldfinch
has been seen as a symbol of industrial revolution and the poet’s wife Sylvia respectively.
10. Comment on the imagery of the poem.

The ‘yellow afternoon September sunlight’, ‘yellowing leaves’ and ‘fallen seeds’ convey
a visual image of autumn as clearly as the auditory imagery of onomatopoeic sounds such
as chitterings, trillings, whistle chirrup, made by the goldfinch and its family, convey an
enchanting chaos. The ‘abrupt, alert movements’ of the bird followed by its ‘flirting to a
branch end’ or ‘launching away to infinite’ form the tactile imagery in the poem. Even the
‘barred face identity mask’ conjures a visual image of the bird in the poet’s eye. Thus, Ted
Hughes has used imagery quite successfully in the poem ‘The Laburnum Top’. The
imagery of life and sustenance comes from the mother goldfinch feeding its young ones
and the comparison to the stoking of an engine.

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Write answers 1-6 in your notebook

THE LABURNUM TOP – TED HUGHES

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

4. What does the barred face identity mask mean?

5. Comment on the themes of the poem

9. What is animal symbolism? How has it been used in the poem?

10. Comment on the imagery of the poem.

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