CBSE Class 11 English- The Laburnum Top

The Laburnum Top
The central idea of "Laburnum Top" by Ted Hughes is the transient and cyclical nature of life and the beauty that can be found in moments of change and transition. The poem describes the Laburnum tree in various stages of growth, from the blossoming of its yellow flowers to the shedding of its petals. Through this description, Hughes explores themes of growth, decay, and the passage of time. The poem also touches on the idea that beauty can be found even in moments of decline and loss. While the falling petals may be seen as a sign of the tree's decline, they are also described as "beautiful as ashes," suggesting that there is a kind of beauty in the changing seasons and the natural cycle of life and death. Overall, "Laburnum Top" encourages the reader to reflect on the impermanence of life and the transient beauty that can be found in the natural world. It invites us to appreciate the beauty of each moment, even as it passes and gives way to the next stage of existence.
Word Meaning

Goldfinch – a small singing birds with yellow feathers on its wings
Twitching – sudden jerk movement
Chirrup – a bird making repeated high pitched sounds
Startlement – feeling or showing sudden shock
Abrupt – rapid
Chitterings – to make a chattering sound
Tremor of wings – involuntary vibration of the wings
Trillings – to produce a chirruping sound
Trembles – to shake
Thrills – a sudden feeling of excitement
Flirts out – lead on to
Stokes – to add fuel to the engine
Barred – stripy
Eerie – weird and strange
Whistle-chirrup – gentle whisper like the chirping of the bird
Subsides – diminishes
The Laburnum Top Literary Devices

1. Alliteration – repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of two or more consecutive words. The instances of alliteration in the poem are as follows-
September sunlight
tree trembles
2. Simile – comparison between two things using like or as.
Sleek as a lizard
3. Metaphor – an indirect comparison between two things. Generally, a quality is compared.
“She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up” – the noise created by the movement of the birds is compared to the machine’s noise
“It is the engine of her family.”
“Showing her barred face identity mask”
4. Personification – the attribution of personal nature characteristics to something non-human
The whole tree trembles and thrills.
5. Transferred Epithet – the figure of speech where the adverb is transferred to another noun
her barred face identity mask

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