THE LABURNUM TOP (Ted Hughes)

The poem presents a reciprocal [mutually beneficial / give-and-take] relationship between the laburnum tree
and the goldfinch. This small, yellow-feathered bird awakens the quiet and sleepy laburnum tree, making it
come alive when she arrives in her nest to feed her young ones.

The Laburnum top is silent, quite still (personification; alliteration)

In the afternoon yellow September sunlight, (alliteration — creates musical effect)
A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen.

The Laburnum top is a symbol of peace and serenity that is an integral part of Nature. On a September
afternoon, no sound emanates from the motionless laburnum tree. The autumn season has just set in with the
sun still warm and the tree leaves beginning to yellow and fall, along with the dry seeds. This symbolises
passing of time or ageing that brings with it decay / deterioration and loneliness.

Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup (onomatopoeia)

A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end. (alliteration)
Then sleek as a lizard, and alert, and abrupt, (simile) (assonance)
She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up (metaphor)
Of chitterings, and a tremor of wings, and trillings — (alliteration) (onomatopoeia)
The whole tree trembles and thrills. (alliteration; personification)

The goldfinch is symbolic of liveliness & life. The unexpected arrival of the goldfinch, with its chirping and
sudden movement, breaks the silence of the tree. Just as smoothly as a lizard passes through a narrow slit,
the goldfinch, too, cautiously / watchfully yet quickly enters the dense foliage / thick leaves and branches of
the tree. A commotion of twittering and fluttering of wings erupts when the goldfinch begins to feed her
young. This movement of the goldfinch and her family makes the tree come alive. The goldfinch family is
just like a machine (sound and movement are common to a machine) that starts up the tree. The tree seems
to quiver / shiver and shake with joy and excitement.

It is the engine of her family. (metaphor)

She stokes it full, then flirts out to a branch-end (enjambment)
Showing her barred face identity mask

The tree, which contains the goldfinch’s nest, attracts her to it. Just as fuel is added to the furnace of a steam
engine to make a train move / run, similarly the goldfinch feeds her young to their fill. She sets the entire
tree in motion / brings it to life. The noise and movements of her young ones (as she feeds them) makes the
tree vibrate and come alive (both the tree and an engine are noisy and pulsating). The birds, thus, are the
engine that makes the laburnum tree move. Then, the goldfinch hops to the end of a branch and peeps out.
Her distinctive yellow face with black markings or stripes (mark of identity / sets her apart from other birds
and the tree) is visible among the yellow flower clusters of the laburnum tree.

Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings (onomatopoeia) (alliteration)

She launches away, towards the infinite (enjambment)
And the laburnum subsides to empty.
[becomes less strong / gradual decrease / comes down gradually]

Then with a peculiar / hauntingly soft and gentle whistle, indicative of motherly satisfaction, the goldfinch
flies off into the vast expanse of sky, which is symbolic of spirituality. [The sky or the heavens are where the
gods supposedly dwell.] The laburnum quietens down to what it was before the bird’s arrival. An image of
emptiness and even loneliness is created in the last line.
 Aural & Visual imagery