The Laburnum Top - Pre Reading, Text and Analysis

TED HUGHES

Pre-Reading Task

In the following poem, Ted Hughes talks of a zoo with various animals and emphasises how the jaguar, the jungle king, holds one captive even from beyond the bars.

'The Jaguar' by Ted Hughes

The apes yawn and adore their fleas in the sun.

The parrots shriek as if they were on fire, or strut

Like cheap tarts to attract the stroller with the nut.

Fatigued with indolence, tiger and lion

Lie still as the sun. The boa-constrictor’s coil

Is a fossil. Cage after cage seems empty, or

Stinks of sleepers from the breathing straw.

It might be painted on a nursery wall.

But who runs like the rest past these arrives

At a cage where the crowd stands, stares, mesmerised,

As a child at a dream, at a jaguar hurrying enraged

Through prison darkness after the drills of his eyes

On a short fierce fuse. Not in boredom—

The eye satisfied to be blind in fire,

By the bang of blood in the brain deaf the ear—

He spins from the bars, but there’s no cage to him

More than to the visionary his cell:

His stride is wildernesses of freedom:

The world rolls under the long thrust of his heel.

Over the cage floor the horizons come.

The poem concludes on the note that despite the man-made iron bars, the world is at the heel of the jaguar and the cage floor only the horizon, highlighting the immense power and indomitable spirit of the beast. The literal meaning of the poem contrasts the pathetic condition of the other beasts of the zoo as opposed to the caged and yet, invincible Jaguar. 
In the larger context, it could be read as the freedom of the inner spirit over barriers of life, the dominance of nature over man-made contraptions or even how social restrictions cannot truly capture the heart of a free spirit.
Now, let's read another poem by this nature poet titled 'Laburnum Top' 

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THE LABURNUM TOP

The Laburnum Top is silent, quite still
in the afternoon yellow September sunlight,
A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen

Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup
A suddeness, a startlement,at a branch end
Then sleek as a lizard, and alert and abrupt,
She enters the thickness,and a machine starts up
Of chitterings, and of tremor of wings,and trillings-
The whole tree trembles and thrills
It is the engine of her family.
She stokes it full, then flirts out to a branch-end
Showing her barred face identity mask

Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings
She launches away, towards the infinite

And the laburnum subsides to empty

CHAPTER VOCABULARY

Laburnum: The Golden Chain tree. A commonly found tree with golden flowers that hang in bunches.

Laburnum Top: The top of the laburnum tree - its highest branches

Goldfinch: Wild canary. A small, yellow bird. The male of the species has black markings across the face, on the wings and tail.


Twitch: Small, often involuntary movement of a body part


Chirrup: An onomatopoeic word capturing the sound made by a bird


Startlement: Amazement, a sudden unexpected action which causes surprise


Sleek: Smooth. In the context of the poem, it could imply a quick movement without much disruption.


Abrupt: Sudden or unexpected


Chittering: An onomatopoeic word capturing bird sounds


Tremor: Shiver, shake


Trillings: Singing repeatedly. In the context of the poem, an onomatopoeic word, capturing bird sounds.


Stokes: Adds fuel. In the context of the poem, the goldfinch feeds its family, providing the fuel (nutrition) that the machine (the bird's family) needs to be energetic


Flirts: In the context of the poem, move abruptly or jerkily with light steps

Eerie: Strange in a frightening or mysterious way


Infinite: In the context of the poem, the sky


Launches: In the context of the poem, flies

Subsides: Returns, reduces in intensity





THE THREE LEVELS OF 'LABURNUM TOP': The literal, connotative and the autobiographical

THE LITERAL MEANING

In nature poetry, the focus is on the magnificence of nature either in terms of its beauty or its violent self. Ted Hughes was inspired by the Romantic pro-nature poet William Blake, John Donne - the man who used nature defiantly, Hopkins who amalgamated traditional verse with innovative imagery and T.S. Eliot for whom an evening sky was similar to a patient etherised upon a table. Thus, for Ted Hughes, nature held a magnanimous cache of meaning to human life. 

The literal meaning of the poem 'The Jaguar' contrasts the pathetic condition of the other beasts of the zoo as opposed to the caged and yet, invincible Jaguar. 

Similarly, the literal interpretation of the poem 'Laburnum Top' presents a complimentary relationship between the goldfinch and the laburnum tree. The goldfinch, aka wild canary, builds its nest on the highest branches of the Laburnum Tree. Hence, the poem is titled, 'Laburnum Top'. Also known as the 'golden chain tree', the golden flowers are a perfect camouflage for the bright yellow goldfinch. Autumn lends a yellow colour to the leaves too.

At the beginning of the poem, one September afternoon, the top of the laburnum tree stands silent and still. The poet uses alliteration and personification (The laburnum top is 'silent'). The leaves are turning yellow in autumn and the seeds have already fallen.

The arrival of the goldfinch is sleek, smooth, alert and abrupt (assonance) like a lizard (simile). It quickly enters the dense foliage and it seems that a machine that had lain dormant till then, awakens. The tree has been compared to a machine (metaphor). The bird's family, quiet thus far in the absence of the goldfinch, begin to chirrup (onomatopoeia) and twitch and generally create commotion. The tree seems to have come alive as it seems to tremble and thrill (alliteration and personification) with the movement of the bird and its family. The birds thus are the engine (metaphor) of the machine - the laburnum tree.

The goldfinch stokes this engine by feeding its family (stoking = feeding = adding fuel to an engine). Once they have been fed, the goldfinch moves to the end of a branch peeping out such that only its face is visible in the yellowness of the tree. The face has black markings which make it seem like the bird is wearing a mask. This mask and the strange, uncanny whistle chirrup she emits is like a warning to any predators who wish to harm its children and on that note, she flies away into the vast infinite sky leaving the tree empty and once again, silent as it was.

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GOING BEYOND THE WRITTEN WORD

Ted Hughes uses a technique called 'Animal Symbolism'. This is a poetic technique where animals are used as symbols of something entirely different and figuratively, much larger. The gold finch has been interpreted by scholars as symbolic of the industrial revolution and/or his wife Sylvia.

METAPHORICAL / CONNOTATIVE MEANING: ANIMAL SYMBOLISM

Using animal symbolism (explained earlier), the goldfinch of the laburnum top, may be seen to represent the industrial revolution.
Ted Hughes wrote actively from 1954 to 1970 although a few poems did get published after this period and even posthumously. The first industrial revolution began in 1750, however, it was the second industrial revolution beginning around 1850 which gradually large scale industrialisation. 

England's economy and environment were altered completely and in literature, poets and authors attempted to draw man's attention back to nature. People lost jobs because machines could perform the task of ten men at once. People lost faith because somehow religion could not explain the fall of the aristocracy or the loss of livelihood of the common man. A middle class arose which quickly gained power and momentum in society. 

Poets who wrote extensively reflecting their artistic hostility towards industrialisation by highlighting the power and beauty of nature over man-made creations, were called the Romantics. The movement was termed Romanticism. William Blake, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, Lord Byron and P B Shelly were the main proponents of this movement. Inspired by Blake, Donne, Hopkins and Eliot each of whom had their own ways of immortalising nature, Ted Hughes chose to be a nature poet as well.

By the time Ted Hughes wrote 'Laburnum Top', industrial revolution had taken England by storm and was a part-and-parcel of everyday life. Hence it is no surprise that like Eliot, Ted Hughes refers to industrial terms, (for instance, 'machine', 'engine', 'stokes it full') in his poetry for expansion of meaning. However, as his other inspirations, he keeps the focus of the poem on nature and its beauty.

For the Laburnum Top,scholars have interpreted the goldfinch as a symbol of industrial revolution which entered rural, calm and serene England and quickly brought thrill and excitement. However, the poet seems to claim that this revolution hid its true face behind a mask and when one looked beyond the mask or when the initial impact of the revolution phased out, England was left emptier than ever before. He might be referring here to the collapse of faith, rural serenity, human employment opportunities and the pious environment.

THE PERSONAL/AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ASPECT - HUGHES PLATH RELATIONSHIP

On February 26, 1954 Ted Hughes met Sylvia Plath. They were married four months later on June 16, 1956 and separated after seven years, in 1962. A year later on February 11, 1963, clinically depressed with a history of attempts to end her life, Sylvia Plath committed suicide. Ted Hughes' affair with Assia Wevill was touted as the major cause of the separation. Six years later, Assia committed suicide in the exact same way as Plath. Assia also took the life of her and Hughes' four year old daughter, Shura. 

These events led feminists and the general public to assume and accuse Ted Hughes of having been abusive to both Sylvia, Assia and his daughter. Ted Hughes got further criticism for having destroyed the final volume of Sylvia's journal which could have explained the reasons for her death. He stated that he had destroyed the journal for the sake of Sylvia and his children. Their son, Nicholas Hughes too committed suicide in 2009 after battling depression.

Often, a poet's works can be read as reflections of his internal thoughts. Ted's poems are rooted in nature, a juxtaposition the beauty and violence so evident in the 'survival of the fittest' norm of nature.  

A school of thought interprets 'Laburnum Top' as Ted Hughes' reflection on his relationship with Sylvia. She was the goldfinch who entered his life smooth and abrupt, leading to thrill and excitement. She eventually revealed her barred face mask that hid her true self and in her death, he was left emptier than ever before, spiritually lifeless.

Ted Hughes maintained silence over the accusations and eventually, published 'Birthday Letters', a collection of poems which were a continued conversation with Sylvia detailing the events of their life together. In October 2010, twelve years after Hughes' death, the last poem of the series 'Birthday Letters' was discovered which Ted had not sent for publication earlier. Following is the last stanza from this poem titled 'Last Letter'

At what position of the hands on my watch-face
Did your last attempt,
Already deeply past
My being able to hear it, shake the pillow
Of that empty bed? A last time
Lightly touch at my books, and my papers?
By the time I got there my phone was asleep.
The pillow innocent. My room slept,
Already filled with the snowlit morning light.
I lit my fire. I had got out my papers.
And I had started to write when the telephone
Jerked awake, in a jabbering alarm,
Remembering everything. It recovered in my hand.
Then a voice like a selected weapon
Or a measured injection,
Coolly delivered its four words
Deep into my ear: ‘Your wife is dead.’

QUESTION BANK

Q.1. Compare and contrast the beginning and the end of the poem?

Q.2. To whom is the bird’s movement compared and why?

Q.3. Elucidate on the phrase ‘barred face identity mask’?

Q.4. Explain: “She launches away towards the infinite”

Q.5.Explain: “She launches away towards the infinite”

Q.6. ‘The whole tree trembles and thrills’. Explain the poetic device used by the poet.

Q.7.Explain the line ‘And the laburnum subsides to empty’.

Q.8. Why did the goldfinch enter the thickness of the laburnum tree? Quote the line or words that support your answer.

Q.9. A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen. Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup,

A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end.

                a) What has happened to the tree?

                b) How does the mood change on the arrival of the goldfinch?

Q.10 Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings

She launches away, towards the infinite

And the laburnum subsides to empty.

            a) Who has been described in the first line?

            b) What impression is created by the description?

                c) What effect does the last line create?

SAMPLE ANSWERS

Q.1. ‘It is the engine of her family, she stokes it full.’ Explain the significance of these lines.

A.1. Metaphorically, the goldfinch’s family is the engine that runs the machine, the laburnum tree, filling it with noise and activity. Just as a stoker feeds coal to an engine, the goldfinch “feeds her family”.

Q.2. ‘Then sleek as a lizard and alert and abrupt, she enters the thickness’. Explain the given lines.

A.2. The simile compares the bird with a lizard. The lizard always seems quick and alert, its movements abrupt or sudden. Similarly, the goldfinch entered the thickness of the branches with quick, alert and sudden movements to avoid any predators.

Q.3. What do you notice about the beginning and the ending of the poem?

A.3. The beginning described a silent laburnum tree with no noise or movement. However, it also seemed tranquil, at peace. In the end, the tree returned to the stillness and silence, however, it also seemed emptier that before having recently been touched by an enchanting chaos.

Q.4. Why do you think Ted Hughes compares the laburnum tree to a machine?

A.4. It is a clear example of the profound influence of industrial revolution wherein villages/countries were slowly giving way to cities and the natural bounty, agriculture etc. were being replaced by concrete buildings, machines, industries etc. The poet thus alludes to the industrial revolution through his poem.

Q.5. What is animal symbolism? How has it been used in the poem?

A.5. Animal symbolism is the technique of using animals as symbols for more significant aspects. In this poem, the poet has used the Laburnum tree and the goldfinch as a symbol of life and its fluctuations. The message conveyed is that life is a process of exchange and transformation. Without the goldfinch, and the chicks, the laburnum is just another tree. In metaphorical and autobiographical interpretations, the goldfinch has been seen as the symbol of industrial revolution and the poet’s wife Sylvia.

SOLVED LONG ANSWER:

Q.1. Comment on the imagery of the poem.

The ‘yellow afternoon September sunlight’, ‘yellowing leaves’ and ‘fallen seeds’ convey a visual image of autumn as clearly as the auditory imagery of onomatopoeic sounds such as chitterings, trillings, whistle chirrup, made by the goldfinch and its family, convey an enchanting chaos.

The ‘abrupt, alert movements’ of the bird followed by its ‘flirting to a branch end’ or ‘launching away to infinite’ form the tactile imagery in the poem. Even the ‘barred face identity mask’ conjures a visual image of the bird in the poet’s eye. Thus, Ted Hughes has used imagery quite successfully in the poem ‘The Laburnum Top’

The imagery of life and sustenance comes from the mother goldfinch feeding its young ones and the comparison to the stoking of an engine.

The imagery of the poem highlights the central message that the pattern of our life has several ups and downs and ranges from dull and inanimate to chaotic or even empty. It is however a person’s attitude which makes life meaningful and gives a purpose to our existence.

TED HUGHES AND SYLVIA PLATH