Question

Meaning of poem the laburnum top

Answer 1

In this poem, the poet personifies the laburnum tree who stands “silent” and the “still” on an autumn afternoon in September. The leaves of the tree have turned “yellow” in color and its seeds have “fallen”. This continues until the gold finch bird livens up the tree by its “suddenness” and “startlement”. The bird is sleek as a “lizard” and it makes the tree “tremble” by its swift motions on the various branches of the tree. The livening of the tree is described as the starting up of a “machine” by the “chitterings” and “tremor” of the bird’s wings. When the bird peeps through yellow leaves of the tree, it appears as if it had covered its face with a “mask”. At last, the bird flies back into the “infinite” sky leaving the tree desolate and “empty” again.