The cruellest Month

[Nymphomanic]

Well, what the hell did Eliot mean, and was he right?

Personally I think November's pretty awful.

[KateBush]

No, he was wrong. February is pretty damn evil. But November's up there. Completely starved of daylight, dark AND cold...the pits, dude, just the PITS

[Manic23]

was it not a pun on Chaucer's (or it might be someone elses) claim that it was a truly great month with lambs and flowers etc.?

I know I've heard an explanation before

[katiem]

Eliot is making a reference to the prologue of the Canterbury Tales when he calls April the cruelest month. Chaucer describes April in terms describing rebirth....the characters in the prologue are about to set off for a pilgrimage. There is a deep sense of faith in the prologue to the Canterbury Tales, but not in Eliot's poem. The comment reflects his lack of faith...or so scholars tell me. There has been so much written on these opening lines so I imagine you could easily find something in writing that could explain it more eloquently.

[Robo]

I have 9 (yes 9!) exams this month, based on 12 modules at edinburgh uni (nearly 300 hours of course). april sucks!!!!!!!!!

[hr]"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." --Bertrand Russell

"There's not a doubt in my mind." --George W. Bush