Song of a Second April

“Song of a Second April” opens with the speaker’s assertion that “April this year” (Line 1) is “not otherwise / Than April of a year ago” (Line 2). Although Millay offers minimal information about this speaker’s identity, she does reveal that the speaker yearns for the past, particularly a past, ambiguous relationship with the mysterious “you” (Lines 5, 17, 18) addressed multiple times. Accordingly, the yearning speaker constantly compares the present to the past, characterizing both Aprils as alike in their mutual disappointment. The springs of both years have been “full of whispers, full of sighs” (Line 3). April offers no new hopes to the speaker who can only sigh and consider past regrets and loss. In the first stanza, the speaker is initially too preoccupied with personal grief to even appreciate the beauty of springtime. Dismissive of what April has to offer, the speaker sarcastically describes the “dazzling mud and dingy snow” (Line 4), holdovers from the winter and spring’s gradually increasing temperatures.

The speaker’s description of the surroundings suddenly shifts near the first stanza’s conclusion, however. After noting the melting mud and snow, the speaker states, “Hepaticas that pleased you so / Are here again, and butterflies” (Lines 5-6).