Laburnum Top-Live English
Laburnum Top-Live English
Laburnum Top-Live English
answers
Short answer questions - 2 marks
‘She launches away, towards the infinite’. Explain the given line.
‘She’ stands for the goldfinch whose arrival on the tree has suddenly transformed it into
a noisy place. After having fed her young ones and having made the tree active and full
of life, the goldfinch flies away towards the infinitely vast sky.
Explain the first three lines of the poem 'The Laburnum Top'.
The laburnum is the tree whose top part is silent due to lack of movement. There is
no breeze and hence there is no rustling of leaves. The time of the day is afternoon. The
month is September, and the season is autumn season. The leaves of the tree have
started decaying and turning yellow as they are about to fall. The seeds of the laburnum
fruit have also fallen.
How is the tree transformed during the bird’s visit? Write the line that shows this
transformation.
The tree suddenly starts trembling and moving as if a machine has started up. This is
due to the arrival of the goldfinch in her nest in order to feed her young ones. The young
ones start their chitterings. There is a tremor of wings. The line that shows the
transformation is ‘a machine starts up, of chitterings, and a tremor of wings, and trillings-
the whole tree trembles and thrills.
To what is the movement of the goldfinch compared? What is the basis for the
comparison?
The goldfinch’s movement is compared to that of a lizard. The basis of the comparison
is the sleek, abrupt and alert movements of a lizard. The same kinds of movements are
observed when the goldfinch arrives on the laburnum tree.
What does the phrase ‘her barred face identity mask’ means?
This is an example of the poetic device – transferred epithet. The laburnum tree has
flowers that fall like bars and when the bird sits behind the flowers the shadow on her
face looks like she is wearing a mask that has bars on it. So, barred – is actually an
adjective for the flowers and has been transferred from there and applied to the bird.
‘The whole tree trembles and thrills’. Explain the poetic device used by the poet.
The poetic device used is ‘alliteration’. Tree trembles and thrills signify that the arrival of
the goldfinch on the laburnum top is responsible for the movement and the activities on
the tree. The tree has suddenly sprung to life and there is shaking and thrilling
movement on it. Personification is also used as a poetic device in ‘Tree trembles’.
‘It is the engine of her family, she strokes it full.’ Explain the significance of these
lines.
The goldfinch has been called the engine of her family. Just as the engine starts up the
machine, her arrival in the nest has suddenly started up the silent machine i.e. the
young ones have started chittering and making noise. The expression 'She stokes itfull'
means that she has fed the young ones who now have the energy to become active and
make noise.
‘Then sleek as a lizard and alert and abrupt, she enters the thickness’. Explain the
given lines.
The lizard is a quick moving animal. It is also very alert and its movements are jerky and
abrupt. In the same manner, the goldfinch enters in the thickness of the branches of the
tree and feeds her young ones.
What do you notice about the beginning and the ending of the poem?
The beginning of the poem describes a silent laburnum tree which has no noise,
movement or life. The ending is also similar where the goldfinch flies away into the vast
sky. But the middle part of the poem shows us a totally transformed tree with noise of
the young ones compared to a machine.
Why did the goldfinch enter the thickness of the laburnum tree? Quote the line or
words that support your answer.
The goldfinch entered the thickness of the laburnum tree because it had to reach its
nest where its young ones were waiting to be fed by her. The lines that support the
answer are ‘a machine starts up’, ‘of chitterings and a tremor of wings and trillings’.’
Reference to Context
1.
A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen
Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup
A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end.
2.
Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings
She launches away, towards the infinite
And the laburnum subsides to empty.
3.
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.
4.
The laburnum top is silent, quite still
In the afternoon yellow September sunlight,
A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen.
5.
It is the engine of her family
She strokes it full, then flirts out to a branch end
Showing her barred face identity mask
a) Why has the word ‘engine’ been used to describe her family?
The word ‘engine’ has been used to describe her family. The engine of the machine
starts up and there is noise, movement and energy signifying the excitement at the
arrival of mother.