April

April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 30 days. Derived from that Latin word aperire which means "to open", probably referring to growing plants in spring.

April in poetry

Poets identify April with the end of winter, but they don't necessarily agree on what that means:

• We start with the proverb

April showers bring May flowers

• In the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer found only cause for celebration:

Whan that April with his showres soote (that is, sweet)

The droughte of March hath perced to the roote,

And bathed every veine in swich licour,

Of which vertu engendred is the flowr; (ll. 1-4)

Modernized for The Norton Anthology of English Literature

• T. S. Eliot, on the other hand, opened The Waste Land with an ironic glance at Chaucer:

April is the cruellest month, breeding

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing

Memory and desire, stirring

Dull roots with spring rain.

Events in April:

• April Fool's Day occurs on April 1.
• Easter occurs on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25 inclusive.

April begins on the same day of week as July in all years and also January in leap years.

See Also: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Historical anniversaries