Song Of A Second April

April this year, not otherwise
Than April of a year ago
Is full of whispers, full of sighs,
Dazzling mud and dingy snow;
Hepaticas that pleased you so
Are here again, and butterflies.
There rings a hammering all day,
And shingles lie about the doors;
From orchards near and far away
The gray wood-pecker taps and bores,
And men are merry at their chores,
And children earnest at their play.
The larger streams run still and deep;
Noisy and swift the small brooks run.
Among the mullein stalks the sheep
Go up the hillside in the sun
Pensively; only you are gone,
You that alone I cared to keep.

(From "Second April" 1921)

First, a few definitions. Both hepaticas and mullein are flowering plants that Millay refers to by their latin names. They are common in the northeast, and being perennial plants they herald the coming of a new season. Both are generally in bloom in April, as one would expect from Vincent's description.

The mud and snow are here in New England during this April of 2011 as well. Spring is finally starting to show itself in slightly warmer temperatures and the sound of songbirds in the mornings. It is a beautiful season, full of hope for summer and warm days.

But it is also a season of memory, remembering last April and the ways in which is was more full of a naive kind of love than this April is. Every sign of the season returns this April, but there are some things that the changing of the season will not bring back, and as Vincent ironically points out in her final lines, those are often the things you would most long for with the return of Spring.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatica
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullein