17 pages • 34 minutes read
End of April
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Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“Moira” by Phillis Levin (1995)
“Moira” is the first poem in The Afterimage. Like “The End of April,” which appears later in the volume, the poem discusses loss: “The heart says: I cannot / The soul says: I am not” (Lines 3-4). The two poems also share images that function as metaphors. Descriptions of a window echo the juxtaposition of positive and negative emotions. Its “frame / once held dawn” (Lines 5-6) but now “gleams all night in desolation” (Line 7). The fresh fruit on a nearby tree is so beautiful it hurts, much like the landscape at the beginning of “The End of April” but the speaker suggests that Moira embrace it, ending the poem in a more hopeful manner than the latter poem.
“Cumulus” by Phillis Levin (1997)
This poem, written two years after those in The Afterimage, is also a meditation on natural object/s, used as a metaphor to discuss humanity. Just as “The End of April” focuses on the damaged eggshell as equivalent to the speaker’s prior relationship, “Cumulus” centers on cumulous clouds as reflective of human labor. Levin’s speaker notes that while “we are true / to ourselves so rarely” (Lines 10-11) and seem mainly to “go / as carelessly, as helplessly, finally / Too full of time” (Lines 8-9), the cloud enriches the world around it by being “Open to darkness” (Line 12). The clouds, like the eggshell, remind us that “when nothing else contains us we turn to them, and all we ever gather appears less tangible” (Lines 19-21), showing us the insignificance of the acquisitions that weigh us down.
“Lithuania” by Phillis Levin (2014)
This poem was written in memory of the poet’s paternal grandmother. Like the eggshell becoming tied to the speaker’s memory of the “you” in “The End of April,” the landscape, or “map” (Line 2) of Lithuania calls to mind the deceased. Here, the “name of the place” (Line 8) where the grandmother lived reappears on a map. Like whatever was inside the eggshell, “Not a map in the world / will show where you are / Now that you are long gone” (Lines 9-11). As in “The End of April,” the speaker is missing their loved ones and longs for reunion: “Wherever you are, being / Nowhere, show me a way / To be here, you who are gone / Into bottomless loam” (Lines 17-20). The speaker asks the “ivy” (Line 20) to carry them backward into the past and revive their memory “to show me to / Two on a porch waiting / To see the flesh of their flesh” (Lines 22-24). While this is more personal than “The End of April,” the feelings of loss and longing exhibited through natural metaphor create a similar effect.
Further Literary Resources
“One Retrospective, Four Sequels, and Three Debuts” by Robert Schultz (1996).
Poet and artist Robert Schultz reviews eight books, among them Levin’s The Afterimage, which contains “The End of April.” While he does not mention this particular poem, he does note the overall quality of the collection, its focus on “spiritual and philosophical” (507) matters, and the candor of the writing, concluding with the idea that, “At her best, Levin's passionate engagement redeems the world's apparent randomness into meaning” (507). This review was published in The Hudson Review, 49.3 (Autumn 1996).
“To Create Something When No One Is Looking” by Ben Rogers (2019)
In this question and answer session with Rogers for The Poetry Society in the United Kingdom, Levin answers questions about her writing process from childhood through her work in translation, her collection at the time, and her friend, fellow poet Molly Peacock. While this article discusses a later collection than The Afterimage, it does provide a good sense of how Levin understands craft, which can apply to “The End of April.” Levin recalls that even at an early age, she discovered an “instinctive sense of how pattern and meaning are inseparable, and already delighted in discovering the power of words, experimenting with sound-shapes and syntax.” She also speaks of writing “from memory, [so] it’s when I am out walking that many of my poems are composed and revised.” Memory is an essential aspect of “The End of April.”
This virtual event was sponsored by the Ontario Arts Council for Words Festival. Peacock and Levin discuss their friendship and writing process. The friendship dates from their meeting in a graduate course at Johns Hopkins University. Peacock notes that as a young writer, Levin’s goal was “to create something universal and everlasting” whereas Peacock was inspired by confessional poets. Peacock also notes she was grounded by writing about the body whereas Levin preferred to write about the mind. She then has Levin read “Definition,” a poem that is also in The Afterimage. This is helpful for understanding the way that Levin writes, and Peacock’s perspective is applicable to “The End of April.”
“The Significances of Japan’s Cherry Blossoms: Part One” by Tyas Sōsen (2020)
This is a website devoted to explaining the tea ceremonies of the Japanese to those who are not Japanese. This entry details the legendary importance of the cherry tree (sakura). The article also offers some varying definitions on the etymology of the word sakura. It also covers the mythological concept of the kami, or the spirits, which are said to visit sacred trees throughout Japan. This may help explain the significance of the use of cherry trees in the poem.
“Cracking the Mystery of How Birds Eggs Are Blue” by Katie Koerten (2022)
This education article for the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst, Massachusetts details why certain birds lay blue eggs, including the robin. Koerten also notes that blue in nature is “rare,” a point Levin’s poem touches on. Other articles on the website detail robin behaviors and attributes, including an article by David Spector on how poets use robins as a symbol of spring.
Listen to Poem
On May 13, 2024, The Daily Poem podcast from Goldberry Studios featured Sean Johnson reading Levin’s poem. He then offers some of his own interpretations. Johnson’s view of the poem is that it is reflective of a feeling of awe:
The loss, the emptiness that the egg represents in the beginning of the poem gradually progresses […] so that by the end of the poem, after we’ve had a good hard look inside, the emptiness is transformed. It’s no longer a lack. It’s just a sign that the thing that once lived there now lives somewhere else, even closer.
This link also has a transcript view.
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