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April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 30 days. Derived from the Latin aprilis, either from the Latin word aperire which means "to open", probably referring to growing plants in spring, or from the Etruscan name Apru for Aphrodite.

April was originally the second month of the Roman calendar and had 29 days. Julius Caesar's calendar reform in 45 BCE resulted in April having 30 days and becoming the fourth month, as the year now began in January.

1 April in poetry

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

April showers bring May flowers
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
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know.
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify?
Not only under ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots.
Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.


2 Events in April





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