summary of poem top
In this poem, the poet personifies the laburnum tree who stands silent and the still on an autumn afternoon in September. The leaves of the tree have turned yellow in color and its seeds have fallen. This continues until the gold finch bird livens up the tree by its suddenness and startlement. The bird is sleek as a lizard and it makes the tree tremble by its swift motions on the various branches of the tree. The livening of the tree is described as the starting up of a machine by the chitterings and tremor of the birds wings. When the bird peeps through yellow leaves of the tree, it appears as if it had covered its face with a mask. At last, the bird flies back into the infinite sky leaving the tree desolate and empty again.