Question

why is the laburnum tree silent?

Answer 1

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.

Why is the image of the engine evoked by the poet?
The poet creates the imagery of a machine starting up when the goldfinch arrives in the tree. The sudden noise and movements produced by the young ones are like the starting of a machine. The stoking of the engine is actually the act of feeding the young ones and imparting energy and life into them.

Describe the laburnum top.
The leaves of the laburnum top are turning yellow due to the autumn. Its seeds have fallen and there is a silence prevailing over the tree. There is no movement at all.

What happened when the goldfinch came to the laburnum tree?
The arrival of the goldfinch brought about a sudden change in the tree. The young ones started twittering and there was a lot of noise, commotion and movement on the tree.

Why has the poem been named ‘The Laburnum Top’?
The poem has been named ‘The Laburnum Top’ because the top of the tree has been described in detail by the poet and the second part is a vivid description of the transformation that the tree undergoes. The entire scenario revolves around the tree.

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.

Answer 2

The laburnum tree was silent because of the lack of livelihood and movement in the tree. There was an absence of life which made the tree lifeless and silent. After the arrival of the Goldfinch and her young ones on the trees, the tree became lively. The movement and the chirping of the birds made the tree full of life.