Poets of Spring and Appraisals of Man

By Timothy Sandefur

T. S. Eliot called April “the cruelest month” because that’s when flowers bloom. That may seem bizarre, but it’s characteristic of a poet whose work was relentlessly hostile to the things of this world—especially human things. His carefully chosen adjective “cruel” suggests an attitude toward spring—and the life and flourishing it represents—in sharp co…