Question

What does "machine" and "engine" refer to in the poem " The Laburnum Top"?

Answer 1

"Machine" represent the baby birds and "engine" represents the mother in the poem " The Laburnum Top."

On a sunny September day, the speaker of the poem “The Laburnum Top” describes the scene which he witnessed there. He notices a goldfinch who entered the tree flying. After the bird entered the tree it became invisible for the speaker. The bird makes the chirping sound which pleases the speaker's ears. Once the goldfinch came out and flew away, the tree returned back to its state of silence.  Since most of the parts of the Laburnum tree is poisonous, still the presence of the bird and its sweet voice alters the poison of the tree to be sweet. But once the bird is gone the tree comes back to its original state.