3. INDEX
1. ABOUT THE AUTHOR/POET
2. PERIOD OF WRITING
3. SUMMARY OF THE POEM
4. POEM
5. POETIC DEVICES
6. LITERARY DEVICES
7. POETIC MODE
8. CRITICAL APPRECIATION
9. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
10. CERTIFICATE
11. BIBLIOGRAPHY
5. ACCORDING TO THE CRITICS, HE IS
THE BEST POET OF HIS
GENERATION AND ONE OF THE
GREATEST WRITERS OF THE 20TH
CENTURY. HE WAS MARRIED TO
AMERICAN POET SYLVIA PLATH
FROM 1956 UNTIL 1963. HIS LAST
POETIC WORK BIRTHDAY LETTERS
(1998) DEALT WITH THEIR
RELATIONSHIP. HIS FIRST
COLLECTION THE HAWK IN THE
RAIN (1957) WAS HIGHLY
ACCLAIMED. HOWEVER, PROBABLY
CROW (1970) WAS HIS MOST
SIGNIFICANT WORK. HUGHES'S
EARLY POETIC WORKS DEALT WITH
NATURE AND SAVAGERY OF
ANIMALS. HE SERVED AS POET
LAUREATE OF THE UNITED
6. KINGDOM FROM 1956 UNTIL HIS
DEATH IN 1998.
:-PERIOD OF WRITING:-
TED HUGHES, BYNAME OF
EDWARD J. HUGHES, (BORN
AUGUST 17, 1930, MYTHOLMROYD,
YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND—DIED
OCTOBER 28, 1998, LONDON),
ENGLISH POET WHOSE MOST
CHARACTERISTIC VERSE IS
WITHOUT SENTIMENTALITY,
EMPHASIZING THE CUNNING AND
SAVAGERY OF ANIMAL LIFE IN
HARSH, SOMETIMES DISJUNCTIVE
LINES. IN 1956 HE MARRIED THE
AMERICAN POET SYLVIA PLATH.
THE COUPLE MOVED TO THE
7. UNITED STATES IN 1957, THE
YEAR THAT HIS FIRST VOLUME OF
VERSE, THE HAWK IN THE RAIN,
WAS PUBLISHED. OTHER WORKS
SOON FOLLOWED. HUGHES WROTE
MANY BOOKS FOR CHILDREN,
NOTABLY THE IRON MAN (1968;
ALSO PUBLISHED AS THE IRON
GIANT; FILM 1999. A SELECTION
OF HIS POEMS CONCERNING
ANIMAL LIFE WAS PUBLISHED AS A
TED HUGHES BESTIARY (2014). IN
1984 HUGHES WAS APPOINTED
BRITAIN’S POET LAUREATE.
:-SUMMARY OF THE POEM:-
THE POEM STARTS WITH A
DESCRIPTION OF THE LABURNUM
TREE WHOSE TOP WAS STILL AND
8. SILENT. ITS LEAVES HAD TURNED
YELLOW AND SEEDS HAD FALLEN
DOWN. IT WAS A DAYTIME IN THE
MONTH OF SEPTEMBER WHEN THE
TREE WAS STANDING STILL AND
DEATH-LIKE. THE LIFE-LESS TREE
BECOMES ALIVE BY THE ARRIVAL
OF THE GOLDFINCH BIRD. SHE
CAME TO FEED HER YOUNGER
ONES WHO ARE ON THE
THICKNESS OF THE BRANCH. THE
TREE IS HER SHELTER. SHE
ARRIVES AT THE END OF THE
BRANCH WITH A CHIRPING SOUND.
SHE FURTHER MOVES TO THE
OTHER SIDE OF THE BRANCH WITH
RAPID AND PRECAUTIONARY
MOVEMENT LIKE A LIZARD. AS
SOON AS SHE ARRIVES, HER
YOUNGER ONES START CHIRPING
9. LIKE A MACHINE AND VIBRATING
AND FLAPPING THEIR WINGS. THE
DEATH-LIKE TREE BECOMES ALIVE
AND IT TREMBLES AND SHAKES.
AFTER FEEDING THEM, SHE FLIES
TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE
BRANCH. HER DARK COLOURED
FACE WITH THE YELLOW BODY
WAS BARELY VISIBLE AS SHE
VANISHED BEHIND THE YELLOW
LEAVES. SHE FLEW AWAY IN THE
SKY, LEAVING THE TREE DEATH-
LIKE AGAIN.
:-POEM:-
THE LABURNUM TOP IS SILENT,
QUITE STILL IN THE AFTERNOON
YELLOW SEPTEMBER SUNLIGHT, A
FEW LEAVES YELLOWING, ALL ITS
10. 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
11. AND THE LABURNUM SUBSIDES TO
EMPTY.
:-POETIC DEVICES:-
THE LABURNUM TOP’ BY TED
HUGHES CONTAINS SOME
IMPORTANT POETIC DEVICES
THAT MAKE THE POEM MORE
INTERESTING TO READ. LIKEWISE,
IN THE FIRST LINE, THE POET
USES PERSONIFICATION. HERE,
THE POET PERSONIFIES THE
“LABURNUM TOP” OR THE TREE
ITSELF. IT IS ALSO AN EXAMPLE
OF SYNECDOCHE AND THE
VARIETY EMPLOYED HERE IS
“PART FOR THE WHOLE”. THERE IS
AN ALLITERATION IN “SEPTEMBER
12. SUNLIGHT”. MOREOVER, IN THE
SECOND STANZA, THE POET USES
ONOMATOPOEIA IN SEVERAL
INSTANCES. THE WORDS SUCH AS
“CHIRRUP”, “CHITTERINGS”, AND
“TRILLINGS” RESONATE WITH THE
SOUND OF THE BIRDS.
:-LITERARY DEVICES:-
SIMILE: IN THIS FIGURE OF
SPEECH, ONE THING IS COMPARED
TO ANOTHER. AN EXAMPLE OF
SIMILE IN THIS POEM IS ‘SLEEK AS
A LIZARD’.
METAPHOR: IN THIS FIGURE OF
SPEECH, A WORD/ PHRASE IS USED
TO REPRESENT SOMETHING ELSE.
EXAMPLES OF METAPHOR IN THIS
13. POEM ARE ‘ENGINE OF HER
FAMILY’, WHERE ‘ENGINE’
REPRESENTS THE MOTHER
GOLDFINCH, AND ‘MACHINE’
WHICH REPRESENTS THE NEST
WITH ITS BROOD OF BIRD CHICKS.
ALLITERATION: IN THIS FIGURE
OF SPEECH, A NUMBER OF WORDS
HAVING THE SAME FIRST
CONSONANT SOUND OCCUR
CLOSE TOGETHER IN A SERIES.
EXAMPLES OF ALLITERATION IN
THIS ‘ POEM ARE ‘SEPTEMBER
SUNLIGHT’, ‘A SUDDENNESS, A
STARTLEMENT’, ‘AND ALERT AND
ABRUPT’ AND ‘TREE TREMBLES
AND THRILLS’.
14. ONOMATOPOEIA: IN THIS FIGURE
OF SPEECH, A WORD IS FORMED
FROM A SOUND SIMILAR TO IT.
EXAMPLES OF ONOMATOPOEIA IN
THIS POEM ARE ‘TWITCHING
CHIRRUP’, ‘CHITTERINGS’,
‘TRILLINGS’ AND ‘WHISTLE-
CHIRRUP’.
TRANSFERRED EPITHET: A
TRANSFERRED EPITHET IS A 1
DESCRIPTION WHICH REFERS TO A
CHARACTER OR EVENT BUT IS
USED TO DESCRIBE A DIFFERENT
SITUATION OR CHARACTER ‘HER
BARRED FACE IDENTITY MASK’ IS
AN EXAMPLE OF TRANSFERRED
EPITHET IN THIS POEM. THE
FLOWERS OF THE LABURNUM
TREE FALL LIKE BARS AND, WHEN
15. THE BIRD SITS BEHIND THE
FLOWERS, THE SHADOW OF THE
FLOWERS ON HER FACE LOOKS
LIKE SHE IS WEARING A MASK
THAT HAS BARS ON IT.
:-POETIC MODE:-
THEME:- THE THEME OF THE
POEM IS REJUVENATION OF
NATURE AND THE CELEBRATION
OF ENERGY. THE LABURNUM TREE
IS SILENT UNTIL THE GOLDFINCH
COMES AND ENLIVENS THE TREE
WITH ITS ACTIVITIES. THERE ARE
ALL SORTS OF SOUNDS AND
STARTLEMENTS. SOON SHE
SHOOTS AWAY INTO THE SKY
PLUNGING THE TREE INTO
SURGING SILENCE.
16. STYLE:- FREE VERSE, FREE FROM
ANY LIMITATIONS OF RHYME OR
REGULAR METER.
:-CRITICAL APPRECIATION:-
‘THE LABURNUM TOP’ BY TED
HUGHES CONSISTS OF FOUR
STANZAS. ONLY THE SECOND
STANZA OF THE POEM IS LONG
ENOUGH AND HAS NINE LINES IN
IT. IT DESCRIBES THE MAIN
ACTIVITY OF THE POEM.
HOWEVER, THE REST OF THE
STANZAS ARE SHORT ENOUGH
AND THE LAST STANZA HAS ONLY
ONE LINE IN IT. THERE ISN’T ANY
SPECIFIC RHYME SCHEME IN THE
POEM. BUT, THERE ARE A FEW
17. SLANT RHYMES IN IT. AS AN
EXAMPLE, “TRILLINGS” AND
“THRILLS” CONTAIN AN
IRREGULAR RHYMING SCHEME.
MOREOVER, MOST OF THE LINES
OF THE POEM CONTAIN MORE
THAN TEN SYLLABLES. WHEREAS,
SOME LINES ARE COMPARABLY
SHORT DEPICTING THE SHIFT OF
MOVEMENT IN THE POEM. •
HOWEVER, THE POET USES A
MIXED METER SCHEME IN THE
POEM. THERE ARE BOTH, THE
IAMBIC METER AND THE
TROCHAIC METER. THERE ARE
ALSO SOME VARIATIONS OF
SPONDEES AND PYRRHICS IN THE
TEXT. WHEREAS, SOME LINES
CONTAIN A HYPERMETRICAL FOOT
AT THE END.
18. :-ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:-
I WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS MY
SPECIAL THANKS OF GRATITUDE
TO MY... AS WELL AS OUR WHO
GAVE ME THE GOLDEN
OPPORTUNITY TO DO THIS
WONDERFUL PROJECT ON THE
TOPIC WHICH ALSO HELPED ME IN
DOING A LOT OF RESEARCH AND I
COME TO KNOW ABOUT SO MANY
NEW THINGS. I NEW REALLY
THANKFUL TO THEM. SECONDLY I
WOULD ALSO LIKE A THANK MY
FRIENDS WHO HELPED ME A LOT
19. IN FINISHING THIS PROJECT
WITHIN THE LIMITED IT HELPED
ME INCREASE MY KNOWLEDGE
AND SKILLS.
:-CERTIFICATE:-
THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT
"SUBHODEEPMONDAL" STUDENT
OF CLASS - 11TH "ENGLISH" HAS
SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED THE
ENGLISH PROJECT ON "THE
LABURNUM TOP L" UNDER THE
GUIDANCE OF "SIR..
DATE: 30/09/2021
SIGNATURE OF THE SUPERVISOR:
SIGNATURE OF THE EXTERNAL
EXAMINER:
SIGNATURE OF THE PRINCIPAL:
