Laburnum top Flashcards
Why is the poem named ‘The Laburnum Top’?
The poem has been named ‘The Laburnum Top’ because the top of the Laburnum tree has been described in detail in the poem. It is on the top of the Laburnum tree that the nest of the goldfinch is located and where all the activity takes place when the goldfinch visits the nest.
What is the significance of ‘yellow’ in the poem?
The flowers of the Laburnum tree and its leaves (in autumn) both are yellow in colour. Apart from this, the goldfinch’s feathers are also yellow in colour. The poem highlights the high security that the mother bird (goldfinch) ensures for her babies and the colour yellow helps in camouflaging the babies. Hence they escape being noticed by any predator.
Why is the poem named ‘The Laburnum Top’?
The poem has been named ‘The Laburnum Top’ because the top of the Laburnum tree has been described in detail in the poem. It is on the top of the Laburnum tree that the nest of the goldfinch is located and where all the activity takes place when the goldfinch visits the nest.
What is the significance of ‘yellow’ in the poem?
The flowers of the Laburnum tree and its leaves (in autumn) both are yellow in colour. Apart from this, the goldfinch’s feathers are also yellow in colour. The poem highlights the high security that the mother bird (goldfinch) ensures for her babies and the colour yellow helps in camouflaging the babies. Hence they escape being noticed by any predator.
How is the tree transformed during the bird’s visit?
After the goldfinch arrives on the tree, the silent and still Laburnum tree suddenly starts trembling and moving. The whole tree comes to life as the chicks of the goldfinch make a lot of noise as they chitter and trill on seeing their mother.
To what is the movement of the goldfinch compared? What is the basis for the comparison?
The movement of the goldfinch is compared to that of a lizard. The basis of the comparison is the sleek, alert and sudden movements of a lizard.
The goldfinch makes similar kind of movements when it arrives on the Laburnum tree to avoid being noticed by any predator.
‘Then sleek as a lizard and alert and abrupt, She enters the thickness’. Explain the given line.
The lizard is a quick moving animal. It is also very alert and its movements are sudden. In the given line, the arrival of the goldfinch on the Laburnum tree is described. The poet describes its movements as alert and sudden just like that of a lizard. This is done to avoid getting the attention of the predators.
What is the engine of the machine? What is its fuel?
The goldfinch has been called the engine of her family. Just as the engine starts up the machine, the goldfinch’s arrival in the nest has suddenly started the machine i.e. the young ones in the nest have started making noise. The fuel of the engine is the food that the goldfinch brings for her chicks.
How does the Laburnum ensure security for the nestlings?
According to popular belief, the bark and the seeds of the Laburnum tree are poisonous. So, predators normally do not come near the tree.
Apart from this, its yellow flowers and yellowing leaves in the autumn season complemented by the yellow coloured feathers of the goldfinch help in camouflaging the nestlings from the predators.
Explain the line, ‘And the Laburnum subsides to empty’.
This is the last line of the poem. It describes that with the departure of the goldfinch from the Laburnum tree, it falls silent. The tree was noisy and lively when the goldfinch came to feed its chicks, but it reverts to its earlier self after its departure from the tree.
What does ‘Laburnum top’ mean here?
(a) It means the top part of any tree
(b) It means the top part of the Laburnum tree
(c) It means the top part of a fictional tree
(d) It does not mean anything
Answer:
(b) It means the top part of the Laburnum tree
What has happened to the tree?
(a) The tree is being worshipped
(b) The tree has been cut down
(c) The leaves of the tree have turned purple and are falling down
(d) The leaves of the tree have turned vellow and its seeds falling down
(d) The leaves of the tree have turned yellow and its seeds are falling down
Find a word from the extract which is the antonym of
‘noisy’.
(a) Quiet
(b) Quite
(c) Hush
(d) Silent
Answer:
(d) Silent
Who is ‘she’ in the second line? Where does she enter?
(a) She is the baby goldfinch who enters the thickness of the Laburnum tree
(b) ‘She’ is a squirrel who enters the thickness of the
Laburnum tree
(c) ‘She’ is a lizard who enters the thickness of the Laburnum tree
(d) ‘She is the mother goldfinch who enters the thickenss of the Laburnum tree
(d) ‘She is the mother goldfinch who enters the thickenss of the Laburnum tree
What does ‘machine’ refer to in the extract?
(a) If refers to the machine used to drill a hole in the tree
(b) It refers to the machine used to cut the tree
(c) It refers to the nest of the goldfinch where its young ones are staying
(d) It refers to the nest of the squirrel
Answer:
(c) It refers to the nest of the goldfinch where its young ones are staying
