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The Laburnum Top & The Voice of the Rain — Class 11 Hornbill

🎓 Class 11 English CBSE Theory Ch 3 — Discovering Tut ⏱ ~35 min
🌐 Language: [gtranslate]

This CBSE English Passage Assessment will be based on: The Laburnum Top & The Voice of the Rain — Class 11 Hornbill

Assessment Format:
• 2 Short Answer Questions (2 marks each) = 4 marks
• 2 Fill in the Blanks Questions (1 mark each) = 2 marks
• 2 Short Answer Questions (1 mark each) = 2 marks
• 2 Multiple Choice Questions (1 mark each) = 2 marks
Total: 8 Questions, 10 Marks

This CBSE English Grammar Assessment will be based on: The Laburnum Top & The Voice of the Rain — Class 11 Hornbill

Assessment Format:
• 10 Randomized Grammar Questions (1 mark each)
• Question Types: Fill in the Blanks, MCQs, Error Identification, Reported Speech, Sentence Completion
Total: 10 Questions, 10 Marks

This English Vocabulary assessment will be based on: The Laburnum Top & The Voice of the Rain — Class 11 Hornbill
Targeting Vocabulary & Usage with Intermediate difficulty.

📖 Before You Read — Both Poems

Two poets from different centuries — Ted Hughes (British, 20th century) and Walt Whitman (American, 19th century) — both find profound meaning in quiet natural moments. Prepare to read both poems in full.

1. Have you ever watched a bird land on a tree and fill it with sound and movement? What changed when it arrived — and when it left?

Hughes observes exactly this: a laburnum tree, silent and still, is transformed when a goldfinch arrives — and returns to emptiness when she departs. The bird becomes an engine of energy. Your observation of a bird in nature is the exact experience the poem captures.

2. Whitman's rain says "I am the poem of Earth." What do you think he means by calling rain a "poem"? How might a natural cycle be compared to a creative act?

Both rain and poetry rise from a source, travel outward, touch and nourish others, and return changed. Rain evaporates, forms clouds, falls, and returns to its origin — just as a poem leaves the poet, reaches readers, and returns as interpretation and emotion. Whitman draws this parallel explicitly in the final bracketed lines.

3. Sound Words: Before reading "The Laburnum Top," listen for sound words in the poem. What do "twitching chirrup," "chitterings," "trillings," and "whistle-chirrup whisperings" have in common?

All these words are onomatopoeic — they imitate the actual sounds of the goldfinch. The repeated "ch" and "tr" sounds in the poem recreate the bird's chirping and trilling, making the reader hear the goldfinch even as they read. Hughes uses sound as a primary literary tool to animate the poem.

4. Whitman's poem uses archaic language: "art thou," "I rise impalpable," "lave the droughts," "reck'd or unreck'd." Why might a 19th-century poet use such formal, elevated language to describe ordinary rain?

Whitman uses elevated, biblical-sounding language to signal that this is not a description of mere weather — it is a philosophical statement about the cyclical nature of existence, the relationship between earth and sky, and the parallel between nature and art. The formality gives rain a divine, cosmic dignity it would not have in plain speech.

Poem 1 — The Laburnum Top

TH
Ted Hughes
1930 – 1998 British Nature Poetry Poet Laureate of England

Edward James "Ted" Hughes was one of the most celebrated British poets of the 20th century, appointed Poet Laureate of England in 1984. Born in Yorkshire, he grew up close to nature — a connection that shapes all his poetry. His collections include The Hawk in the Rain (1957) and Crow (1970). Hughes is known for his visceral, intensely physical poetry about animals and the natural world — poems that treat nature not as a backdrop but as a living, elemental force. "The Laburnum Top" is a precise observation of a goldfinch and a tree, transformed into a meditation on energy, identity, and departure.

The Laburnum Top
— Ted Hughes
Imagery Metaphor Alliteration
Stanza 1 — Lines 1–3 (Stillness)
1The laburnum top is silent, quite still 2In the afternoon yellow September sunlight, 3A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen.
Glossary: laburnum — a short tree with hanging branches, yellow flowers and poisonous seeds.
Stanza 2 — Lines 4–9 (Arrival and Transformation)
4Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup 5A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end. 6Then sleek as a lizard, and alert, and abrupt, 7She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up 8Of chitterings, and a tremor of wings, and trillings — 9The whole tree trembles and thrills.
Glossary: goldfinch — a small singing bird with yellow feathers on its wings.
Stanza 3 — Lines 10–14 (The Engine / Departure)
10It is the engine of her family. 11She stokes it full, then flirts out to a branch-end 12Showing her barred face identity mask 13Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings 14She launches away, towards the infinite 15And the laburnum subsides to empty.

Stanza-by-Stanza Explanation

Stanza 1 — Stillness Before Arrival (Lines 1–3)

The poem opens with the laburnum tree in a state of deep autumn stillness. It is afternoon in September — the year is winding down. The leaves are beginning to turn yellow (mirroring the yellow of the laburnum's flowers in spring), and all the seeds have already fallen. The tree is at rest — even slightly spent, emptied of its reproductive purpose. Imagery The phrase "quite still" repeats the sense of absolute silence. This stillness is not merely description — it is the canvas against which the goldfinch's arrival will be painted.

Stanza 2 — Sudden Transformation (Lines 4–9)

"Till the goldfinch comes" — that single word "till" breaks the stillness. The bird's arrival is described as "a suddenness, a startlement" — abstract nouns that transform the bird into an event, a force, rather than a creature. The comparison "sleek as a lizard" Simile captures the goldfinch's swift, precise, reptilian agility. She enters "the thickness" — the interior of the tree — and immediately "a machine starts up." Metaphor This is the poem's central metaphor: the goldfinch's activity transforms the tree into a working machine — full of "chitterings," "trillings," and wing-tremors. Alliteration The words "trembles and thrills" show the tree responding to the bird's energy — almost as if the tree is alive with the same excitement.

Stanza 3 — The Engine and Departure (Lines 10–15)

"It is the engine of her family" — the metaphor deepens. The goldfinch is not just visiting; she is the power source of her nestlings inside the tree. She "stokes it full" — fuels the engine of her young with food — before moving to a branch end. Metaphor Her "barred face identity mask" describes the distinctive markings of the goldfinch's face — striped like a mask — suggesting both camouflage and individual identity. Then, with a strange, ethereal "whistle-chirrup whispering," she launches herself toward "the infinite" — a vast, open word suggesting the sky's limitlessness. Symbolism And the tree — so recently alive with her energy — "subsides to empty." The circular structure of the poem: silence → transformation → silence. The beginning and ending mirror each other perfectly, emphasising that the goldfinch's presence is the only source of life in the tree.

Literary Devices — The Laburnum Top

DeviceExample from PoemEffect / Explanation
Simile "sleek as a lizard" Compares the goldfinch's movement to a lizard's — swift, precise, low, and almost predatory. Unusual comparison (bird to reptile) emphasises speed and alertness over beauty.
Metaphor "a machine starts up" / "engine of her family" / "stokes it full" Extended mechanical metaphor: the goldfinch's activity inside the tree is compared to an engine being powered up and fuelled. It suggests purposeful, rhythmic, organised energy — not random birdsong but structured maternal labour.
Alliteration "trembles and thrills" / "whistle-chirrup whisperings" "Trembles and thrills" — the repeated 'tr' mimics the quivering vibration of the tree. "Whistle-chirrup whisperings" — 'wh' and 'ch' sounds recreate the soft, complex sounds of the departing bird. Alliteration makes the reader hear the poem.
Imagery "yellow September sunlight" / "leaves yellowing" / "a tremor of wings" The dominant colour is yellow — unifying the autumnal light, the dying leaves, the goldfinch's yellow wing-patches, and even the laburnum's spring flowers (remembered). This creates a deeply coherent visual world.
Symbolism "towards the infinite" / "subsides to empty" The goldfinch departing "towards the infinite" symbolises the unbounded freedom of nature against the bounded, still tree. "Subsides to empty" suggests that the tree's meaning depended entirely on the bird — without her, it is not just quiet but meaningless. A meditation on dependence and belonging.
CBQ

The Laburnum Top — Extract-Based Questions

Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup
A suddenness, 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 a tremor of wings, and trillings —
The whole tree trembles and thrills.
Q1. What do you notice about the beginning and ending of the poem? What effect does this structure create?
L4 Analyse
Answer: The poem begins with the laburnum top "silent, quite still" and ends with it "subsiding to empty." This circular structure — silence before, silence after — creates a sense of completeness and inevitability. The goldfinch's visit is a brief, vivid interruption of an otherwise still existence. The poem itself mirrors the experience: it comes alive in the middle and returns to stillness at its close, just as the tree does.
Q2. To what is the bird's movement compared? What is the basis for the comparison?
L4 Analyse
Answer: The goldfinch's movement is compared to a lizard ("sleek as a lizard"). The basis for comparison is the quality of movement — both a lizard and the goldfinch move with swift, precise, low-slung agility. The comparison is unusual (a bird compared to a reptile rather than another bird) and deliberately emphasises speed, alertness, and a slightly predatory efficiency over prettiness. It captures the goldfinch's purposeful, unsentimental energy.
Q3. Why does the poet use the image of an "engine" and a "machine"? What is evoked by this metaphor?
L4 Analyse
Answer: The mechanical metaphor — "a machine starts up," "engine of her family," "stokes it full" — is deliberate and striking. It suggests that the goldfinch's activity is not casual but purposeful and organised: she is fuelling her nestlings with food, running the family's survival with the efficiency of a machine. The metaphor also captures the sound — the tree vibrates with mechanical energy. It removes sentimentality and reveals nature's business-like efficiency beneath its beauty.
Q4. Write four lines of verse, inspired by Ted Hughes' style, describing any bird or tree you have observed.
L6 Create
Model Answer (student may vary):
The mango tree stands heavy, still, and warm,
Till the crow arrives — a clatter, a claim —
Drops into the canopy dark as a storm,
And the whole branch shakes and will not be the same.


Notice: the structure mirrors Hughes — stillness, arrival, transformation, departure implied.

Poem 2 — The Voice of the Rain

WW
Walt Whitman
1819 – 1892 American Free Verse Transcendentalism

Walter "Walt" Whitman is one of the most influential American poets, often called the "father of free verse." His groundbreaking collection Leaves of Grass (1855, expanded through multiple editions) revolutionised poetry by abandoning rhyme and metre in favour of long, flowing, biblical-cadenced lines. A nurse during the American Civil War, Whitman had a deeply humanistic and optimistic worldview, celebrating democracy, nature, and the self. "The Voice of the Rain" reflects his Transcendentalist beliefs — that nature is a spiritual force, and that art (like rain) serves a cyclical, nurturing purpose.

The Voice of the Rain
— Walt Whitman
Personification Metaphor Symbolism
Stanza 1 — Lines 1–9 (The Dialogue and the Rain's Identity)
1And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower, 2Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated: 3I am the poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain, 4Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea, 5Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely form'd, altogether changed, 6and yet the same, 7I descend to lave the droughts, atomies, dust-layers of the globe, 8And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn; 9And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin, 10And make pure and beautify it;
Final Lines 11–13 (The Parallel: Song and Rain)
11(For song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfilment, wandering 12Reck'd or unreck'd, duly with love returns.)
Glossary: impalpable — cannot be touched or felt physically; lave — wash, bathe; atomies — tiny particles; latent — hidden, not yet active; reck'd — cared for, heeded.

Line-by-Line Explanation

Lines 1–2 — The Dialogue Begins

The poem opens with the poet addressing the rain directly: "And who art thou?" — the archaic "art thou" (are you) gives the exchange a formal, almost biblical solemnity. Personification The rain responds — "strange to tell" — acknowledging that this is unusual, even miraculous: rain does not speak. The phrase "as here translated" hints that Whitman acts as interpreter between nature and the reader — as a poet should.

Lines 3–6 — The Rain's Identity: Eternal and Cyclic

The rain identifies itself as "the poem of Earth" — the central metaphor of the entire poem. Metaphor Rain is eternal: it rises "impalpable" (as invisible water vapour) from land and sea, travels upward to heaven where it is "vaguely form'd" — gathered into clouds — "altogether changed, and yet the same." This paradox captures the water cycle: the molecule that evaporated is the same molecule that returns as rain — changed in form but identical in substance. Symbolism

Lines 7–10 — Rain's Purpose: Giving Life

The rain descends to "lave" (wash and bathe) the parched, dusty earth — "droughts, atomies, dust-layers." Without rain, all seeds remain "latent, unborn" — potential life that cannot be realised. The rain awakens that potential. Personification Crucially, the rain says it "gives back life to my own origin" — returning to the earth and sea from which it rose, purifying and beautifying its source. This is the cycle of water scientifically understood but poetically felt.

Lines 11–13 — The Parallel: Song/Poetry and Rain (Final Bracket)

The final lines — placed in brackets — draw the parallel between rain and song explicitly. A song (poem) issues from its origin (the poet's imagination), travels outward into the world ("wandering"), fulfils its purpose whether or not anyone heeds it ("reck'd or unreck'd" — noticed or unnoticed), and "with love returns" to its source. Symbolism The brackets signal that this is an aside — Whitman stepping outside the rain's voice to offer his own philosophical reflection. Rain and poetry are both generous, cyclic, and self-replenishing acts of creation.

Literary Devices — The Voice of the Rain

DeviceExampleEffect
Personification "Who art thou… gave me an answer" / "voice of the rain" Rain is given a voice and an identity — it speaks, identifies itself, explains its purpose. This transforms a meteorological process into a conscious, philosophical act.
Metaphor "I am the poem of Earth" The central metaphor of the entire poem. Rain is compared to a poem — both nourish, both travel from source to audience and return. This is Whitman's most audacious and resonant image.
Symbolism "seeds only, latent, unborn" / "reck'd or unreck'd" Seeds symbolise potential — human, creative, natural. "Reck'd or unreck'd" suggests that true giving (by rain, by the poet) does not depend on recognition; it is performed with love regardless.
Imagery "impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea" / "dust-layers of the globe" The vast, cosmic scale of the imagery — "bottomless sea," "globe," "heaven" — gives rain an almost divine stature. Whitman's imagery is expansive and democratic: rain belongs to the whole earth.
Paradox "altogether changed, and yet the same" Water is transformed from liquid to vapour to cloud to rain — utterly changed in form — yet it remains H₂O. The paradox captures a philosophical truth about identity and change that science confirms.

Vocabulary — Both Poems

impalpable
adjective
Unable to be felt by touch; not capable of being physically sensed; intangible.
"Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land…" — rain as water vapour is invisible and untouchable.
lave
verb
To wash or bathe — used in literary/poetic register; not common in everyday speech.
"I descend to lave the droughts…" — rain washes away drought, dust, and aridity.
atomies
noun (plural)
Tiny particles; minute fragments. An archaic/poetic variant of "atoms."
"…the droughts, atomies, dust-layers of the globe…"
latent
adjective
Present but not yet active, developed, or visible; hidden potential.
"…without me were seeds only, latent, unborn…" — seeds hold life in potential until rain activates them.
reck'd / unreck'd
verb (past participle) / adjective
"Reck'd" = heeded, cared about, noticed. "Unreck'd" = unheeded, unnoticed. Archaic English, rarely used today.
"Reck'd or unreck'd, duly with love returns" — whether noticed or not, the song/rain returns faithfully.
chitterings
noun (plural)
Rapid, high-pitched twittering sounds made by small birds; the chattering of birds.
"…a machine starts up / Of chitterings, and a tremor of wings…"
subsides
verb
Settles down quietly; sinks back to a lower or calmer level.
"…the laburnum subsides to empty." — the tree returns to stillness after the goldfinch departs.
startlement
noun
The state or quality of being startled; sudden shock or surprise. Used by Hughes as an abstract noun to elevate the bird's arrival into an event.
"A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end."

Comparative Theme Web — Both Poems

Shared and Distinct Themes

Both poems explore nature, cycles, and identity — but from very different angles. The web below shows convergences and distinctions.

The Laburnum Top Energy & Stillness Observation of Nature Sound & Silence SHARED Nature's cycles Departure & return Art & creation The Voice of the Rain Philosophy & cosmos Poetry = Rain parallel Free verse / dialogue
Key Contrast: Hughes is a precise observer — his poem is visual and sonic, grounded in a specific autumn afternoon. Whitman is a philosopher — his poem uses the rain as a vehicle for cosmic meditation on art, creation, and love. Hughes stays close to the earth; Whitman reaches toward the infinite.
CBQ

The Voice of the Rain — Extract-Based Questions

I am the poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain,
Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea,
Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely form'd, altogether changed,
and yet the same,
I descend to lave the droughts, atomies, dust-layers of the globe,
And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn;
Q1. "There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to? Which lines indicate this?"
L2 Understand
Answer: The two voices are: (i) the poet's voice — "And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower" (Line 1) and "Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated:" (Line 2); and (ii) the rain's voice — "I am the poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain" (Line 3) onwards. The shift between voices is marked by the phrases "said I" and "said the voice of the rain."
Q2. What does the phrase "strange to tell" mean? Why does Whitman use it?
L3 Apply
Answer: "Strange to tell" means "oddly, surprisingly, or remarkably" — the poet acknowledges that what he is about to say is unusual or remarkable. He uses it to introduce the idea that rain spoke back to him — an impossible, imaginative event. The phrase prepares the reader to accept the poem's central conceit: the rain as a conscious, speaking entity. It also signals the poet's role as interpreter — "as here translated" — turning nature's silent voice into human language.
Q3. Explain the parallel drawn between rain and music/song in the poem. Which words indicate this similarity?
L4 Analyse
Answer: The parallel is explicit in the final bracketed lines: "For song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfilment, wandering / Reck'd or unreck'd, duly with love returns." The words "issuing," "wandering," and "returns" mirror the water cycle: water rises, travels, and returns. A song similarly leaves the poet (its source/birthplace), travels into the world (wandering), and returns — as interpretation, emotion, memory — to enrich its origin. Both rain and song nourish what is "latent" and "unborn" — potential that needs activation. "Poem of Earth" (Line 3) establishes the rain as creative act; the final lines complete this by showing art as a parallel natural force.
Q4. Why are the last two lines placed within brackets? What is the significance of this typographical choice?
L5 Evaluate
Answer: The brackets signal a shift from the rain's voice (which has spoken throughout the poem) to the poet's own philosophical reflection. Whitman steps outside the drama of the poem to offer his own conclusion — that poetry, like rain, serves a purpose regardless of whether it is "reck'd or unreck'd" (noticed or ignored), and always returns with love. The brackets are both a typographical and a philosophical device: they mark this as an aside, a personal comment from the poet — not part of the rain's speech but Whitman's larger artistic statement about the nature and purpose of poetry.

Think It Out — NCERT Questions (Both Poems)

Laburnum Top Q1
What does the phrase "her barred face identity mask" mean?
3 marks
Answer: A goldfinch has distinctive markings on its face — bold stripes of red, black, and white — that are as unique to its species as a mask. Hughes uses "barred face identity mask" to describe these characteristic facial markings. "Barred" refers to the striped pattern. "Identity mask" suggests these markings are simultaneously a form of camouflage and a unique identity marker — the bird's signature. The phrase is compact and evocative, giving the bird a personality and distinctiveness beyond mere zoological description.
Laburnum Top Q2
Note down the sound words and movement words in the poem.
3 marks
Sound words: twitching chirrup, chitterings, trillings, whistle-chirrup whisperings, tremor (of wings).
Movement words: comes, sleek (as a lizard), enters, starts up, trembles, thrills, stokes, flirts out, launches away, subsides.
Dominant colour: Yellow — September sunlight, yellowing leaves, and the goldfinch's yellow wing patches all create a unified yellow palette.
Voice of Rain Q1
How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem? Compare it with what you have learnt in science.
4 marks
Answer: Whitman describes the water cycle in poetic form: rain rises "impalpable" (as water vapour) from land and sea → travels upward to heaven (condenses into clouds) → descends to wash the earth (precipitation) → gives back life to "my own origin" (water returns to its source).
Scientific parallel: In science, the water cycle consists of: Evaporation (water vapour rises from oceans/land) → Condensation (forms clouds) → Precipitation (rain falls) → Collection (returns to rivers, seas, ground). Whitman captures this cycle accurately but in metaphorical, philosophical language — portraying a scientific process as a conscious, loving act.
Voice of Rain Q2
List the pairs of opposites found in the poem.
3 marks
Pairs of opposites in "The Voice of the Rain":
(i) risedescend — the rain rises as vapour and descends as precipitation.
(ii) altogether changedyet the same — water changes form but remains the same substance (paradox).
(iii) latent, unborn ↔ giving back life — dormant seeds becoming living plants.
(iv) reck'dunreck'd — noticed vs. unnoticed.
(v) daynight — the rain's work continues regardless of time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the central theme of 'The Laburnum Top' by Ted Hughes?
The poem explores the relationship between stillness and energy, between a living creature (the goldfinch) and the natural object she temporarily inhabits (the laburnum tree). It meditates on how meaning and life are created by presence and obliterated by departure. The goldfinch is the source of the tree's vitality — without her, the tree "subsides to empty."
How does 'The Voice of the Rain' use personification?
Whitman gives the rain a voice, an identity ("I am the poem of Earth"), and a consciousness — it speaks, explains its purpose, and describes its cyclical journey. This personification transforms a natural process into a philosophical entity capable of self-awareness and love ("duly with love returns").
What is the parallel between rain and song in Whitman's poem?
Both rain and song issue from a source, travel outward, nourish what they touch, and return — changed but essentially the same — to their origin. Both work regardless of whether they are "reck'd or unreck'd" (noticed or ignored). The final bracketed lines make this parallel explicit: poetry is rain; rain is poetry.
Why does Hughes compare the goldfinch to a machine and an engine?
The mechanical metaphor highlights the goldfinch's purposeful, rhythmic, efficient activity — she is feeding her nestlings with the systematic energy of a machine. It removes sentimentality and reveals the pragmatic, unsentimental truth of nature: the bird's beauty serves a survival function, not aesthetic pleasure. The extended metaphor ("machine starts up," "engine," "stokes") gives the poem an industrial energy that contrasts powerfully with the tree's silence.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Laburnum Top & The Voice of the Rain — Class 11 Horn about in NCERT English?

The Laburnum Top & The Voice of the Rain — Class 11 Horn is a lesson from the NCERT English textbook that covers important literary and language concepts. The lesson includes vocabulary, literary devices, comprehension exercises, and writing tasks aligned to the CBSE curriculum.

What vocabulary is important in The Laburnum Top & The Voice of the Rain — Class 11 Horn?

Key vocabulary words from The Laburnum Top & The Voice of the Rain — Class 11 Horn are highlighted throughout with contextual meanings, usage examples, and interesting facts. Click any highlighted word to see its full definition and example sentence.

What literary devices are used in The Laburnum Top & The Voice of the Rain — Class 11 Horn?

The Laburnum Top & The Voice of the Rain — Class 11 Horn uses various literary devices including imagery, symbolism, and figurative language. These are identified with coloured tags throughout the text for easy recognition and understanding by students.

What exercises are included for The Laburnum Top & The Voice of the Rain — Class 11 Horn?

Exercises include extract-based comprehension questions in CBSE board exam format, grammar workshops connected to the passage, vocabulary activities, and creative writing tasks with model answers provided.

How does The Laburnum Top & The Voice of the Rain — Class 11 Horn help in board exam preparation?

The Laburnum Top & The Voice of the Rain — Class 11 Horn includes CBSE-format extract-based questions, long answer practice with model responses, and grammar exercises that mirror board exam patterns. All questions follow Bloom's Taxonomy levels L1-L6.

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