April - Definition


April - Definition

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April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days.

April begins in Aries and ends in Taurus

In the wheel of the year April ends at or near Samhain in the southern hemisphere and a few days before the midpoint between autumn equinox and winter solstice. In the northern hemisphere it has a corresponding position with respect to Bealtaine, between spring equinox and summer solstice.

Contents

History

The name is 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.

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.

Spring - Edna St. Vincent Millay

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.

Events in April

April Fool's Day occurs on April 1.
Easter occurs on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25 inclusive in Western Christianity, and between April 4 and May 8 inclusive in Eastern Orthodox Churches.
April is National Autism Awareness Month in the United States
In the Irish Calendar the month is called Aibre�n and is the third and last month of Spring.

April and War

April also is noticable for its close connection with warfare. a unusually large number of wars have started or ended in april's, and many military leaders (ex. Hitler) have been born in April. Just a few wars that started\Ended in April are,

American Revolution Started (Paul Reveres Ride: April 18-19 1775) American Civil War (Started April 1861 Ended April 1865, thus "Across 5 Aprils) World War One (Americans Enter WWI in April, 1917) World War Two (Germany Surrenders in April, 1945)

Trivia

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

April's flower is the daisy.
April's birthstone is the diamond.