NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Hornbill Poem 2 The Laburnum Top

The Laburnum Top NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Hornbill Poem 2

The Laburnum Top NCERT Text Book Questions and Answers

The Laburnum Top About the poet

Edward James Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet and children’s writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation, and one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers. He served as Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death. In 2008, The Times ranked Hughes fourth on their list of “The 50 greatest British writers since 1945”.

The Laburnum Top Main Theme
The first three lines of the poem impress upon the reader the stillness of the laburnum tree. A small goldfinch comes and the tree bursts with movement and sound. The bird’s family lodges in the thickness of the tree. The goldfinch enters the tree’s thickness to feed her young ones and flies away. The tree becomes silent once again when the bird flies away. The poet has used imagery of sound and movement to show the tree coming alive.

The Laburnum Top Find out

Question 1.
What laburnum is called in your language?
Answer:
To be done by the student. In Hindi it is called ‘Amaltaas’. It flowers in summer.

Question 2.
Which local bird is like the goldfinch?
Answer:
To be done by the student.

The Laburnum Top Think it out

Question 1.
What do you notice about the beginning and the ending of the poem? ‘
Answer:
The poem begins with the laburnum tree’s stillness and quietness. It ends also with silence and emptiness of the tree.

Question 2.
To what is the bird’s movement compared? What is the basis for the comparison?
Answer:
The bird’s movement has been compared to that of a lizard. Her movement is smooth and unexpected like a lizard’s.

Question 3.
Why is the image of the engine evoked by the poet?
Answer:
The image of the engine has been evoked to give the reader an idea of energy, movement and sound that fill the tree when the goldfinch enters. The tree vibrates with life.

Question 4.
What do you like most about the poem?
Answer:
The poet’s depiction of the goldfinch is the most charming part of the poem. She brings life to the. silent tree with her entry. The poet has created beautiful images of colour, sound and movement.

Question 5.
What does the phrase ‘her barred face identity mask’ mean?
Answer:
The goldfinch has dark stripes on her face. The poet describes this as a mask which identifies the bird.

Note Down

Question 1.
the sound words
Answer:
chirrup, chitterings, trilling, whistle—whisperings

Question 2.
the movement words
Answer:
twitching, enters, tremor, trembles, launches away

Question 3.
the dominant colour in the poem.
Answer:
yellow: yellow September sunlight, leaves yellowing, laburnum tree has yellow flowers

List the following

Question 1.
Words which describe ‘sleek’, ‘alert’ and ‘abrupt’.
Answer:

sleek — flirt out
alert — startlement
abrupt — suddenness

These three words describe the movement of the bird and show how she enters the thick leaves and branches. Suddenness and startlement mean the same as above.

Question 2.
Words with the sound ‘ch’ as in ‘chart’ and ‘tr’ as in ‘trembles’ in the poem.
Answer:

ch — chirrup, chittering
tr — trillings, trembles

Question 3.
Other sounds that occur frequently in the poem.
Answer:

‘s’ — September, ‘sunlight’, silent, still
‘I’ — leaves, yellowing, all, fallen
‘tr’ — tree, trembles

The Laburnum Top Thinking about language

Question 1.
Look for some other poem on a bird or a tree in English or any other language.
Answer:
To be done by the student.

Try this out

Question 1.
Write four lines in verse form on any tree that you see around you.
Answer:
To be done by the student.