--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To what purpose, April, do you return…" description: "\"To what purpose, April, do you return again? Beauty is not enough.\" — Edna St. Vincent Millay" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a6/edna-st-vincent-millay-1291_april_to-what-purpose-april-do-you-return-agai_3221108.jpg" --- # To what purpose, April, do you return again? Beauty is not… ![“To what purpose, April, do you return again? Beauty is not enough.” quote by Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a6/edna-st-vincent-millay-1291_april_to-what-purpose-april-do-you-return-agai_3221108.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a6/edna-st-vincent-millay-1291_april_to-what-purpose-april-do-you-return-agai_3221108.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a6/edna-st-vincent-millay-1291_april_to-what-purpose-april-do-you-return-agai_3221108.jpg) > “To what purpose, April, do you return again? Beauty is not enough.” [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True beauty alone cannot justify repeated returns; purpose must accompany desire. **In simple terms:** Beauty isn’t sufficient without meaning. Key Takeaway Seek purpose beyond aesthetic appeal. Themes art purpose beauty Mood melancholic thoughtful Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - relationship decisions - creative pursuits - career choices Key Concepts existentialism literature human motivation Questions to Reflect On - What drives you to return? - When does beauty become hollow? A Different Perspective Beauty can be deceptive without deeper intent. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [April](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/april/) [April Return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/april-return-6055684/) [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Purpose April](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose-april-4934382/) [Return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/return/) [Return Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/return-beauty-1292101/) [Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring/) ## Related quotes > [Spring TO what purpose, April, do you return again? Beauty is not enough. You can no longer quiet me with the redness Of little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/spring-to-what-purpose-april-do-you-return-again-beauty-is-not-enough/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [You were born a child of light’s wonderful secret— you return to the beauty you have always been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aberjhani/you-were-born-a-child-of-light-s-wonderful-secret-you-return-to-the/) [Aberjhani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aberjhani/) > [Life in itself / Is nothing, / An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs. / It is not enough that yearly, down this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/life-in-itself-is-nothing-an-empty-cup-a-flight-of-uncarpeted-stairs/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [“ Song of a Second April APRIL this year, not otherwise Than April of a year ago Is full of whispers, full of sighs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/song-of-a-second-april-april-this-year-not-otherwise-than-april-of-a/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [We can't possibly have a summer love. So many people have tried that the name's become proverbial. Summer is only the unfulfilled promise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/we-can-t-possibly-have-a-summer-love-so-many-people-have-tried-that/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [Spring in the world! And all things are made new!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hovey/spring-in-the-world-and-all-things-are-made-new/) [Richard Hovey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hovey/) > [Hark, I hear a robin calling! List, the wind is from the south! And the orchard-bloom is falling Sweet as kisses on the mouth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-maud-montgomery/hark-i-hear-a-robin-calling-list-the-wind-is-from-the-south-and-the/) [Lucy Maud Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-maud-montgomery/) > [Spring. March fans it, April christens it, and May puts on its jacket and trousers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/spring-march-fans-it-april-christens-it-and-may-puts-on-its-jacket/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [But days even earlier than these, in April, have a charm, — even days that seem raw and rainy, when the sky is dull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wentworth-higginson/but-days-even-earlier-than-these-in-april-have-a-charm-even-days-that/) [Thomas Wentworth Higginson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wentworth-higginson/) > [“When bullying April bruised mine eyes With sleet-bound appetites and crude Experiments of green, I still was wise And kissed the blossoming rod.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-day-lewis/when-bullying-april-bruised-mine-eyes-with-sleet-bound-appetites-and/) [Cecil Day-Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-day-lewis/) > [I had not thought of violets of late, The wild, shy kind that springs beneath you feet In wistful April days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/i-had-not-thought-of-violets-of-late-the-wild-shy-kind-that-springs/) [Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/) > [Spring with its wavin' green grass and heaps of sweet-smellin' flowers on every hill and in every dale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-bean/spring-with-its-wavin-green-grass-and-heaps-of-sweet-smellin-flowers/) [Roy Bean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-bean/) > [The air is like a butterfly With frail blue wings. The happy earth looks at the sky And sings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-kilmer/the-air-is-like-a-butterfly-with-frail-blue-wings-the-happy-earth/) [Joyce Kilmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-kilmer/) > [And the seasons they go 'round and 'round And the painted ponies go up and down We're captive on the carousel of time We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/and-the-seasons-they-go-round-and-round-and-the-painted-ponies-go-up/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The old men of the village of Mahotière say that the Mistress of the Water is a mulatto woman. At midnight she comes out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-roumain/the-old-men-of-the-village-of-mahoti-re-say-that-the-mistress-of-the/) [Jacques Roumain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-roumain/) ## More by Edna St. Vincent Millay > [Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/into-the-darkness-they-go-the-wise-and-the-lovely/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [There are a hundred places where I fear To go, --so with his memory they brim! And entering with relief some quiet place Where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/there-are-a-hundred-places-where-i-fear-to-go-so-with-his-memory-they/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [The first rose on my rose-tree Budded, bloomed, and shattered, During sad days when to me Nothing mattered. Grief or grief has drained me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/the-first-rose-on-my-rose-tree-budded-bloomed-and-shattered-during/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [A Poem from Edna St. Vincent Millay: Grown-up Was it for this I uttered prayers, And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs, That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/a-poem-from-edna-st-vincent-millay-grown-up-was-it-for-this-i-uttered/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [She is happy where she lies With the dust upon her eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/she-is-happy-where-she-lies-with-the-dust-upon-her-eyes/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [And reaching up my hand to try, I screamed to feel it touch the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/and-reaching-up-my-hand-to-try-i-screamed-to-feel-it-touch-the-sky/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [“And you as well must die, beloved dust, And all your beauty stand you in no stead; This flawless, vital hand, this perfect head,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/and-you-as-well-must-die-beloved-dust-and-all-your-beauty-stand-you/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [Oh, children, growing up to be Adventurers into sophistry, Forbear, forbear to be of those That read the rood to learn the rose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/oh-children-growing-up-to-be-adventurers-into-sophistry-forbear/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [After the feet of beauty fly my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/after-the-feet-of-beauty-fly-my-own/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [Some of us have been thinking and talking too long without doing anything. Poems are perfect; picketing, sometimes, is better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/some-of-us-have-been-thinking-and-talking-too-long-without-doing/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [“But, sure, the sky is big, I said; Miles and miles above my head; So here upon my back I'll lie And look my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/but-sure-the-sky-is-big-i-said-miles-and-miles-above-my-head-so-here/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [pity me that the heart is slow to learn what the swift mind beholds at every turn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/pity-me-that-the-heart-is-slow-to-learn-what-the-swift-mind-beholds/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [Youth, have no pity; leave no farthing here For age to invest in compromise and fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/youth-have-no-pity-leave-no-farthing-here-for-age-to-invest-in/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [My god is all gods in one. When I see a beautiful sunset, I worship the god of Nature; when I see a hidden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/my-god-is-all-gods-in-one-when-i-see-a-beautiful-sunset-i-worship-the/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [“Tea was sucha comfort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/tea-was-sucha-comfort/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) [Explore all 260 Edna St. Vincent Millay quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) ## More April quotes > [“I had a chat with May and I had a sweet talk with April but the lovely conversation that left me to ponder was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/i-had-a-chat-with-may-and-i-had-a-sweet-talk-with-april-but-the/) [Ernest Agyemang Yeboah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-agyemang-yeboah/) > [It might interest you that just as the U.S. was ramping up its involvement in Vietnam, LBJ launched an illegal invasion of the Dominican…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/it-might-interest-you-that-just-as-the-u-s-was-ramping-up-its/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [Two things you need to know about taxes. They've extended the deadline to April 18, and when you write your check, just make it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/two-things-you-need-to-know-about-taxes-they-ve-extended-the-deadline/) [David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/) > [Why should I deem myself to be a chisel, when I could be the artist?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/why-should-i-deem-myself-to-be-a-chisel-when-i-could-be-the-artist/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) > [The air soft as that of Seville in April, and so fragrant that it was delicious to breathe it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-columbus/the-air-soft-as-that-of-seville-in-april-and-so-fragrant-that-it-was/) [Christopher Columbus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-columbus/) > [Our opponents see an America in which every day is April 15, tax day. Well, we see an America in which every day is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/our-opponents-see-an-america-in-which-every-day-is-april-15-tax-day/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Here cometh April again, and as far as I can see the world hath more fools in it than ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/here-cometh-april-again-and-as-far-as-i-can-see-the-world-hath-more/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [It felt like 10 years, but I was actually in treatment for three-and-a-half years. I finally finished in April. Two years ago, I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/it-felt-like-10-years-but-i-was-actually-in-treatment-for-three-and-a/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [The air is like a butterfly With frail blue wings. The happy earth looks at the sky And sings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-kilmer/the-air-is-like-a-butterfly-with-frail-blue-wings-the-happy-earth/) [Joyce Kilmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-kilmer/) > [At 1.24 am on 26 April 1986 Chernobyl’s Unit 4 reactor exploded after staff disabled safety systems and performed an ill-advised experiment to check…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lynas/at-1-24-am-on-26-april-1986-chernobyl-s-unit-4-reactor-exploded-after/) [Mark Lynas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lynas/) > [People born in April are very loving and caring people. They are the ones who have the best memories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-born-in-april-are-very-loving-and-caring-people-they-are-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ah, March! we know thou art Kind-hearted, spite of ugly looks and threats, And, out of sight, art nursing April's violets!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-hunt-jackson/ah-march-we-know-thou-art-kind-hearted-spite-of-ugly-looks-and/) [Helen Hunt Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-hunt-jackson/) > [I know April, May and June are a few unbearable months, and working out in a gym and sweating in such dirty hot, sticky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashish-sharma/i-know-april-may-and-june-are-a-few-unbearable-months-and-working-out/) [Ashish Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashish-sharma/) > [Men are April when they woo, December when they wed...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/men-are-april-when-they-woo-december-when-they-wed/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Oh, to be in England Now that April's there, And whoever wakes in England Sees, some morning, unaware.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/oh-to-be-in-england-now-that-april-s-there-and-whoever-wakes-in/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) [Browse all 567 April quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/april/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To what purpose, April, do you return again? 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