17 pages 34 minutes read

End of April

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1995

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Overview

“The End of April” is a lyric poem by American poet Phillis Levin. It was originally published in the literary magazine The Plum Review, which ran from 1991 to 1997. The poem was then featured in Levin’s second collection, The Afterimage (1995), which was praised upon publication for its ability to capture signs and meanings in daily life, sometimes even in the tiniest objects. In Levin’s long career this is an early poem, but it bears many hallmarks of the typical style of her lyrics, including a sense of wonder at nature and meditating on longing and loss. The poem was included in Poetry 180, the poetry project created for use in high schools by US Poet Laureate Billy Collins in 2002, with a poem for each day of the school year. As Poem 178 in that series, “The End of April” has been widely taught and is one of Levin’s most popular poems. Levin has served as professor of poetry at the University of Maryland and Hofstra University. She has published six poetry collections to date, with her poems featured in various publications such as Agni, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Paris Review, and Poetry, amongst others.

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