The goldfinch’s movement is compared to that of a

Laburnum Top - Sample questions lizard. The basis of the comparison is the sleek, abrupt
with answers and alert movements of a lizard. The same kinds
Short answer questions - 2 marks of movements are observed when the goldfinch arrives
on the laburnum tree.
‘She launches away, towards the infinite’. Explain What does the phrase ‘her barred face identity mask’
the given line. means?
‘She’ stands for the goldfinch whose arrival on the tree This is an example of the poetic device – transferred
has suddenly transformed it into a noisy place. After epithet. The laburnum tree has flowers that fall like bars
having fed her young ones and having made the tree and when the bird sits behind the flowers the shadow on
active and full of life, the goldfinch flies away towards the her face looks like she is wearing a mask that has bars
infinitely vast sky. on it. So, barred – is actually an adjective for the flowers
and has been transferred from there and applied to the
Why is the image of the engine evoked by the poet? bird.
The poet creates the imagery of a machine starting up
when the goldfinch arrives in the tree. The sudden noise ‘The whole tree trembles and thrills’. Explain the
and movements produced by the young ones are like the poetic device used by the poet.
starting of a machine. The stoking of the engine is The poetic device used is ‘alliteration’. Tree trembles
actually the act of feeding the young ones and imparting and thrills signify that the arrival of the goldfinch on the
energy and life into them. laburnum top is responsible for the movement and the
activities on the tree. The tree has suddenly sprung to
Describe the laburnum top. life and there is shaking and thrilling movement on it.
The leaves of the laburnum top are turning yellow due to Personification is also used as a poetic device in ‘Tree
the autumn. Its seeds have fallen and there is a silence trembles’.
prevailing over the tree. There is no movement at all.
‘It is the engine of her family, she strokes it full.’
What happened when the goldfinch came to the Explain the significance of these lines.
laburnum tree? The goldfinch has been called the engine of her family.
The arrival of the goldfinch brought about a sudden Just as the engine starts up the machine, her arrival in
change in the tree. The young ones started twittering the nest has suddenly started up the silent machine i.e.
and there was a lot of noise, commotion and movement the young ones have started chittering and making
on the tree. noise. The expression 'She stokes itfull' means that she
has fed the young ones who now have the energy to
Why has the poem been named ‘The Laburnum become active and make noise.
Top’?
The poem has been named ‘The Laburnum Top’ Explain the line ‘And the laburnum subsides to
because the top of the tree has been described in detail empty’.
by the poet and the second part is a vivid description of This is the last line of the poem depicting the sudden
the transformation that the tree undergoes. The entire silence which falls over the laburnum tree when the
scenario revolves around the tree. goldfinch flies away after feeding its young ones. It had
been on the tree for sometime and the tree had suddenly
Explain the first three lines of the poem 'The become lively and noisy but after its departure, the tree
Laburnum Top'. becomes silent again.
The laburnum is the tree whose top part is silent due to
lack of movement. There is no breeze and hence there ‘Then sleek as a lizard and alert and abrupt, she
is no rustling of leaves. The time of the day is afternoon. enters the thickness’. Explain the given lines.
The month is September, and the season is autumn The lizard is a quick moving animal. It is also very alert
season. The leaves of the tree have started decaying and its movements are jerky and abrupt. In the same
and turning yellow as they are about to fall. The seeds of manner, the goldfinch enters in the thickness of the
the laburnum fruit have also fallen. branches of the tree and feeds her young ones.
How is the tree transformed during the bird’s visit? What do you notice about the beginning and the
Write the line that shows this transformation. ending of the poem?
The tree suddenly starts trembling and moving as if a The beginning of the poem describes a silent laburnum
machine has started up. This is due to the arrival of the tree which has no noise, movement or life. The ending is
goldfinch in her nest in order to feed her young ones. also similar where the goldfinch flies away into the vast
The young ones start their chitterings. There is a tremor sky. But the middle part of the poem shows us a totally
of wings. The line that shows the transformation is ‘a transformed tree with noise of the young ones compared
machine starts up, of chitterings, and a tremor of wings, to a machine.
and trillings- the whole tree trembles and thrills.
Why did the goldfinch enter the thickness of the
To what is the movement of the goldfinch laburnum tree? Quote the line or words that support
compared? What is the basis for the comparison? your answer.
 The goldfinch entered the thickness of the laburnum tree The tree was silent earlier but as the mother goldfinch
because it had to reach its nest where its young ones comes to her nest, there is a lot of noise made by her
were waiting to be fed by her. The lines that support the young ones. The movement and the sounds produced
answer are ‘a machine starts up’, ‘of chitterings and a are in contrast to the silence. The tree comes to life now.
tremor of wings and trillings’.’
4.
The laburnum top is silent, quite still
In the afternoon yellow September sunlight,
Reference to Context A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen.
1.
A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen a) Name the poem and the poet.
Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup The name of the poem is ‘The Laburnum Top’ and the
A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end. poet is Ted Hughes.
a) What has happened to the tree? b) Describe the laburnum tree.
It is the month of September. The autumn has set in. The tree is silent and still. It has leaves that are
The leaves of the tree have turned yellow and its seeds yellowing and seeds have fallen.
have also fallen.
c) What is the mood in these lines?
b) How does the mood change on the arrival of the goldfinch? The mood is of peace, calm, quiet and silence. There is
The tree which was earlier silent has become active, absolute stillness and peace.
noisy and full of life, as the goldfinch has come to feed
her young ones. d) Pick out the words that create the mood.
The words that create the mood are ‘silent’, ‘still’,
c) There is a comparison of the goldfinch with an ‘yellowing leaves’ and ‘fallenseeds’.
animal. Which animal is that?
The goldfinch has been compared to a lizard, sleek and 5.
abrupt in its movements. It is the engine of her family
She strokes it full, then flirts out to a branch end
2. Showing her barred face identity mask
Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings
She launches away, towards the infinite a) Why has the word ‘engine’ been used to describe her
And the laburnum subsides to empty. family?
The word ‘engine’ has been used to describe her family.
a) Who has been described in the first line? The engine of the machine starts up and there is noise,
The goldfinch has been described in the first line. movement and energy signifying the excitement at the
arrival of mother.
b) What impression is created by the description?
The chirruping of the birds is delicate, soft and gentle b) Who is ‘she’? How does she stroke the engine?
like whispering. The reference is to the sounds that the ‘She’ is the goldfinch who has her nest on the top of the
bird makes. laburnum tree. Just as the stoker feeds coal to the
engine, the bird feeds her young ones.
c) What effect does the last line create?
The last line shows the contrast between the liveliness of c) What does the bird look like?
the tree and the silent tree.The tree becomes silent and The face which was earlier hidden in the thickness of the
empty when the bird flies away. tree’s branches is now revealed as she comes out at the
end of the branch. She seems to be wearing a striped
3. mask.
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 trilling
The whole tree trembles and thrills.

a) Who is ‘she’ in the first line? Where does she

b) What is the ‘machine’ referred to in line 2?

c) Explain the meaning of the last line.