Summary of The Laburnum Top

The author is Ted Huges. The poem is about a Laburnum tree and a bird called a Goldfinch. The main idea of the poem is that the two people pay each other back. Also, it starts with a description of how quiet the Laburnum tree is in the yellow light of September. He sees that the tree’s leaves are yellow and that there are seeds on the ground. It seems to be still for a moment, but then a goldfinch lands on its branch. As soon as the bird starts to chirp, the poet sees the tree come to life. When the mother goldfinch comes, the tree and the babies start to chirp and come to life. She keeps coming and going to get food for her young. So, when she leaves, the tree’s elusive silence returns.

The Laburnum Top Summary in English

The poet writes about what he sees in the Laburnum tree and how it makes him feel. The first thing it says is that the tree’s leaves are yellow. He also notices that the top of the tree is still and quiet, even in September.

All of the tree’s leaves have fallen off because it is autumn, and the seeds are on the ground. Most interesting is that the poet uses “yellow” to describe both the colour of the leaves and the colour of the sun. Here, the colour yellow means peace, death, and beauty. So, he uses this colour to perfectly describe the whole scene.
Then, he notices that the tree no longer looks like death when a goldfinch bird sits on it. When the bird comes near, the tree makes a sudden chirrup sound. He says that the bird is like a lizard in that it is quick, alert, and quick to move.

When she moves towards the thick part of the branch, the young birds start to chirp and flap their wings. So, because of this movement, the tree starts to shake and thrill as well. So, we can see that the poet gives two different descriptions of the tree. First, it looked like it was dead, but when the bird lands on it, it comes back to life.
Also, the poet finally realises that the goldfinch bird and the tree are the engines of her family. She moves to the end of the other branch when she brings food for the little birds. He talks about how the bird looks. It has dark stripes on its dark face.

After that, her body turns yellow and matches the colour of the tree’s leaves. When she finally gets to the end of the branch, she chirps in a pretty way. As she flies away into the endless sky, the poet says that this sound is like a whisper. So, when the bird leaves, the Laburnum tree goes back to being quiet and lifeless.

Conclusion of The Laburnum Top

To sum up The Laburnum Top, we learn about the caring relationship between the tree and the bird, as well as the important roles they both play in their lives.