There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music.
T. S. EliotRead
April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Eliot describes April as a harsh month that brings new life, awakening painful memories and desires.
In this quote, T. S. Eliot reflects on the complexity of spring as a time of renewal and awakening, juxtaposing the beauty of blooming flowers with the harshness of confronting past memories and desires. April signifies a transition, where the once dormant landscape comes alive, but this revival also stirs painful emotions and memories that might be uncomfortable for individuals to face, thus branding it cruel.
Themes
AprilCruelMemoryDesireSpringRenewal
In practice
Example use cases
In a literary analysis of Eliot's work, I might quote, 'April is the cruelest month' to discuss themes of rebirth.
More from T. S. Eliot
All quotes βHalf of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm. But the harm does not interest them.
T. S. EliotRead
I am an Anglo-Catholic in religion, a classicist in literature and a royalist in politics.
T. S. EliotRead
If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?
T. S. EliotRead
For I have known them all already, known them allβ Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.
T. S. EliotRead
In the faint moonlight, the grass is singing
T. S. EliotRead
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I hear it in the deep heart's core.
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So in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds, And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds.
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Fly not yet; 't is just the hour When pleasure, like the midnight flower That scorns the eye of vulgar light, Begins to bloom for sons of night And maids who love the moon.
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