End of April

Phillis Levin’s poem, “The End of April,” is an extended metaphor about loss and how memory can sometimes be triggered by an innocent object, in this case an empty eggshell.

In the poem, the speaker discovers “a robin’s egg” (Line 2) under a “cherry tree” (Line 1). The title of the poem, “The End of April,” suggests the time of year the incident takes place, invoking the end of the month and the close of early spring. The springtime setting combined with the sense of finality suggests the passing of a youthful phase of the speaker’s life, as poetic tradition often equates spring with adolescence and early adulthood. There is also an equation of the closing of the month with the end of the speaker’s connection with the unknown “you” they begin to remember. The speaker has been “thinking of you” (Line 4) as they “knee[l] in the grass among fallen blossoms” (Line 5). This act of remembering, combined with the “end” indicated in the title, suggests that this person exists only in the speaker’s past rather than in the speaker’s present.

The fact that the speaker is “kneeling” (Line 5) mimics the action of prayer or supplication, with the arch of the tree reflecting the architecture of a cathedral. The act of kneeling suggests sadness and vulnerability in the speaker, whose act of remembrance appears to feel bittersweet. The “fallen blossoms” (Line 5) imply that something beautiful and ephemeral has passed and that a period of happiness is now over.

The blueness of the broken eggshell stands out against the white petals that have descended from the tree. Its fragility is emphasized as the speaker describes it as “a blue scrap” (Line 7), “a delicate toy” (Line 8), with the weight of mere “confetti” (Line 9). These descriptions, like the blossoms and the eggshell, show how vulnerable things of nature can be.

While Nature seems to be robust, the speaker points out, it can also be ethereal and tenuous. They note, “nature will do such things, from time to time” (Lines 11-12), emphasizing that whatever was special about the egg didn’t come to be. It has fallen or been stolen from its nest. Its function—protecting the baby bird inside it—was truncated. Looking at the eggshell, the speaker notes “it didn’t seem real” (Line 10). This suggests it is out of place on the ground, as a piece of paper or a toy would be. This sense of unreality also extends to the emotions that center around it being broken.

The speaker brings back the emotional reasons for why the eggshell, which is “broken, but not shattered” (Line 3) resonates with them. It is a metaphor for explaining the relationship with the aforementioned “you” (Line 4). The examination of that memory continues through contemplation of the state of the “perfect shell” (Line 15). The speaker, looking “inside” (Line 18) through “the missing crown” (Line 16), finds the space “glistening [and] hollow” (Line 14). The speaker can recognize what would have been “perfect” (Line 15). However, the final piece is missing. The use of the phrase “missing crown” (Line 16) suggests a final culmination that was never achieved, implying that the relationship with the unspecified “you” ended instead of achieving a more permanent type of fulfillment.  

The promise of the shell, the life inside it, “is gone now” (Line 20). It resides only within the speaker’s memory. It “lives in [their] heart” (Line 21), the speaker confesses. The speaker regrets the “end” of their connection to the “you” they are remembering, noting that what could have been—just like the potential life within the eggshell—is something they still contemplate. The waste of it “periodically” (Line 22) returns to their mind, where “it opens up its wings / tearing [them] apart” (Lines 23-24). The speaker thus suggests that their sense of loss is ongoing, with moments of fresh regret or grief occurring from time to time.