Edward James Hughes [17 August 1930 – 28 October 1988] was an English poet and children’s writer known as Ted Hughes.

Ranked one of the best poets of his generation

Married from 1956-63 to the American poet Slyvia Plath, who committed suicide in 1963 at the age of 30.

The Laburnum TopLaburnum Tree

Goldfinch

1. Why has the poem Laburnum Top by Ted Hughes been titled so?

Answer : The poem is titled as Laburnum top because the main character of the poem the goldfinch settles in the tree and feeds its young ones in it . The poem describes the situation of the tree before the goldfinch sits and after it sits.

The Poem "The Laburnum Top" is a beautiful poem by Ted Hughes. In this poem, the poet has used the Laburnum tree and goldfinches as a symbol of life and its fluctuations. He describes the visiting of goldfinches on the Laburnum tree and how she has made a nest on it. When the goldfinches have chicks, it brings alive the tree as the chicks start to rustle and chirp. Hughes is trying to convey the message that life is a process of exchange and transformation. People are alive because they undergo exchange of energy. The goldfinches transform the tree and make it alive, without the goldfinches and the chicks the laburnum is just another tree

The Laburnum Top by Ted Hughes

Literary DevicesSound words - Chirrup, chittering, trilling

whisper, whistle Movement words - twitch, fallen, comes,

enter, starts, trembles, stoke, launches ,subsides