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CaseyWise
MissMiele
APLiteratureandComposition
21April2016
PoetryExplicationofEndofApril
TheBeginningofanEnd
Haveyoueverlostsomeoneyoulove?Loveispowerfulanduncontrollableifitis
unexpectedlytakenaway,onemustlearntoacceptwhathashappenedandlearntolivewithit.
ThespeakerinEndofAprilbyPhillisLevinisseparatedfromhisloverandmustlearnhowto
copewiththeloss.Thesymbolism,imagery,andsyntaxusedinEndofAprilhelptoconvey
theideathatlearningfromandacceptingthepastpreparesonefortheunpredictablefuture.
In"EndofApril"byPhillisLevin,thepersonaencountersarobin'seggandthinksofhis
absentsignificantother.Theeggwasseparatedfromthenestjustlikethespeaker'sloverbeing
separatedfromthespeaker(Levin16).Throughoutthepoem,thesymboloftheemptyand
damagedrobin'seggrepresentsthepersona'sbrokenheartandloneliness.Atfirstthesymbolis
depressingandmorose,butthemorethevoiceofthepoemcontemplates,themoreacceptingand
positivehebecomesofthedepartedrobinand,therefore,hisbreakup.Thespeaker"[finds]a
robin'segg,/broken,butnotshattered"remindinghimofhislostlove(Levin12).Eventhough
therelationshipdoesnotexistanymore,thepersonasheartisnotcompletelydestroyed,but
ratheritisonlysignificantlyweakened.Additionally,thespeakerfeelsthathesurvivedthe
breakupandisacceptingthefactthathecannotcontrolnatureeverythinghappensforareason
andhemustbepatienttoseewhatthereasonsmaybe.Whentherobinseggisfound,itis


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emptyand"whathadbeenthere/isgonenow/andlivesin[his]heart(Levin1921).Notonlyis
therobinmissingfromtheegg,butalsotheloverisabsentfromtherelationship.Regardlessof
theabsenceofthelover,thepersonamustlearntolivewiththeseparationforhewillalways
carryitwithhim.Sometimesonemustfeelsorrowanddefeatinordertogainintelligenceandbe
pointedinabetterdirection.Bytheendofthepoem,thespeakerrealizesthathemustrecover
fromthebreakupandlearnhowtolivewithhisdamagedheartpeoplecannotwastetheirlives
mopingaboutthepast,sotheymuststandbackupandrecollectthemselvesforwhatistocome.
Alongwithsymbolism,imageryisveryapparentthroughoutthepoem.Atthebeginning
ofthepoem,thepersonaiskneelinginthegrass/amongfallenblossomsthatarefallingfrom
thecherrytree(Levin56).Thereaderisabletoimaginethespeakersurrenderingonhisknees
totheinevitablechangethatmustoccurinhislifethepersonamustacceptthefactthathe
cannotchangehispastandthathemustlivewithhispreviouscomplications.Justlikethe
changingofthecherrytree,thespeakermustalsoexperienceachangeafterhisbreakup.By
acceptingthefactthathemustadapt,thepersonaisabletoopenhismindaswellasbecome
morepreparedforthenextdifficultsituationheisin.BytheclosingofEndofApril,the
authoruseskinestheticimagerytoemphasizethesignificanceanddifficultyofthebreakupto
thespeakerthememoryofthebrokenrelationshipperiodicallyopensupitswings,/tearing
[him]apart(Levin2324).Everysooften,thememoryresurfacesandthepersonamustdeal
withitsviolence.Lifeisunpredictableand,therefore,therecollectionofthemournfulmemoryis
uncontrollable.Therecurringreminiscenceoftheseparationpainsthespeakeraswellasmakes
thepersonastrongerandmorepreparedforthenextunexpectedheartbreakordefeatpeople


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learnfromtheirmistakesandpreviousencountersand,eventually,becomestrongerforwhatthe
futureholds.
Moreover,thesyntaxhelpstodisplaytheideathatthefutureisunknownandnotableto
beperfectlyplannedout.Levinstructuresthepoeminevenandconsistentstanzas,representing
theconstantexistenceoflifesjubilationandagony.Eventhoughthesizeofthestanzasis
relativelythesame,thestructurewithinthestanzasisfreeverse.Thespeakerrecognizesthatlife
isunforeseeableandsometimesnotunderstandablebutnaturewilldosuchthings/fromtimeto
timedespitewhatmaybetheoutcome(Levin1112).Peoplecannotcontrolneitherhuman
naturenormothernatureessentially,naturehasapersonalityofitsownandwilldoasitpleases.
Regardlessoftheactionsofnature,thespeakermustrealizethathecanonlycontrolhimselfand
makethemostofwhatlifegiveshim.Alongwiththestructure,thetitleofthepoemisalsovery
significanttothetheme.DuringthemonthofAprilintheUnitedStates,theweatheristypically
veryrainy,buttherainallowsforallthebeautifulflowersthatgrowinthemonthofMay.The
titleEndofAprilrepresentsthedepressingendingoftherelationshipbetweenthespeakerand
hislover,whichwouldbetheendoftherain.ThetransitionintothemonthofMayrepresentsa
changeinthepersonatobecomingmorejovialandlivelyjustliketheflowers.Thestructureand
titleofthepoemhelptoexplainhowthetimestocomeareupintheairandrandomizedthe
speakersonlyoptionistotakewhathehaslearnedfromtherelationshipandcontinuewithhis
life.Manytimespeoplegetstuckinsituationswhichtheycannotfixorchange,sotheyhaveno
otherchoicebuttomoveforward.
Finally,theuseofsymbolism,imagery,andsyntaxallcontributetodisplaythethemeof
EndofApril.Thesymbolismtakeswhatwouldbeasimpleencounterbetweenapersonandan


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emptyrobinsegganddeepensthecontextbyrepresentingafailedrelationshipandbrokenheart.
Also,theauthoremphasizesthesignificanceoftheencountertothespeakerthroughtheuseof
vibrantimagery.Lastly,thespecificorganizationandsyntaxofthepoemmatchesupwiththe
constantandcapriciouschangesthroughouttherollercoasteroflife.ThethemeofEndofApril
isnotonlyimportanttothespeakerandhissituation,butalsorelevanttopeopleineverydaylife.
Dwellingonthepastdoesnotmakeforabetterfuturepeoplehavetogetoverwhathas
happenedinthepastandlearnfromtheirmistakesinordertostartfreshwithanewbeginning.


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WorksCited
Levin,Phillis.EndofApril.
Poetry180.
LibraryofCongress.1996.Web.19April2016.