Poem 2 The Laburnum Top Solutions
Question - 1 : - What laburnum is called in your language.
Answer - 1 : -
Laburnum is known as Amaltas in Hindi.
Question - 2 : - Which local bird is like the goldfinch.
Answer - 2 : -
Birds which sing melodiously like the goldfinch in India include the Asian Koel, the Bulbul, the House Sparrow, the Himalayan Cuckoo, the Swallow and so on.
Question - 3 : - What do you notice about the beginning and the ending of the poem?
Answer - 3 : -
The beginning of the poem is about the silence and stillness of the laburnum. The end of the poem again drifts into silence and emptiness of the laburnum.
Question - 4 : - To what is the bird’s movement compared? What is the basis for the comparison?
Answer - 4 : -
The bird’s movement is compared to that of a lizard. The basis for the comparison is the sleek, alert and abrupt movement with which the bird enters its nest. This movement of the bird is comparable to that of a lizard.
Question - 5 : - Why is the image of the engine evoked by the poet?
Answer - 5 : -
The poet evokes the image of an engine because as soon as the goldfinch enters its nest on the laburnum top, the whole tree comes alive with the chirruping of the young ones of the bird, their twittering and the tremor of their wings. As an engine brings a seemingly dead machine to life, so the chittering family of the goldfinch brings the whole tree into life.
Question - 6 : - What do you like most about the poem?
Answer - 6 : -
Open-ended question. Here is a suggested answer: I like the depiction and the imagery in the poem. The poet creates a mundane yet beautiful picture of a tree top that goes through stages from being silent to alive and drifts back into silence again. The imagery of an engine bringing alive a machine is also something that catches my fancy.
Question - 7 : - What does the phrase “her barred face identity mask” mean?
Answer - 7 : -
The phrase refers to the face of the bird that is covered with fur of different colours and which looks like a mask making it the identity of the bird.
Question - 8 : - Words which describe ‘sleek’, ‘alert’ and ‘abrupt’.
Answer - 8 : -
Sleek – Smooth, Polished, Effortless
Alert – Watchful, Careful, Brisk, Active
Abrupt – Hasty, Quick, Sudden, Rushed
Question - 9 : - Words with the sound ‘ch’ as in ‘chart’ and ‘tr’ as in ‘trembles’ in the poem.
Answer - 9 : -
Words with ‘Ch’ – Chirrup, Chitterings, Whistle-Chirrup
Words with ‘Tr’ – Tremor, Trillings, Tree, Trembles, Thrills