The age-old saying has been around for longer than you think. Once April 1st comes around, it’s time to take out of storage those rain boots, umbrellas, ponchos and, of course, vases for spring flowers. The age-old saying “April showers bring May flowers” still holds true today. But where did this originate?
The phrase “April showers bring May flowers” originated in 1157 as a short poem by Thomas Tusser. The poem can be found in the April section of a collection of his writings titled “A Hundred Good Points of Husbandry.” It goes: “Sweet April showers, do spring May flowers.”
While this poem is clearly a direct ancestor to the version we know today, it actually goes back in time a bit further to the end of the 14th century, when the legendary poet Geoffrey Chaucer had his own say on the month of April in his famous collection of stories “The Canterbury Tales.”
His original version goes as follows: “Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote. The droghte of March hath perced to the roote. And bathed every veyne in swich licour, of which vertu engendred is the flour.”
The translation goes as follows: “When in April the sweet showers fall, that pierce March’s drought to the root and all. And bathed every vein in liquor that has power. To generate therein and sire the flower.”
Chaucer speaks of April in relation to March rather than May. So, while Thomas Tusser is regarded as the father of this saying, it certainly could be said that Geoffrey Chaucer is the grandfather.
Thomas Tusser was born in 1524 and passed away on May 3rd, 1580. He was an English poet and farmer, best known for his influential agricultural writings, particularly “Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry.”
So what does that mean for us in Montreal? Given our history, who really knows? With Ice storms, snow storms, evere thunderstorms, floods and hurricanes, anything is possible. Potential power outages as well.
Nonetheless, we are Montrealers, and we have survived the worst!
My take on it is, we go with the ‘flow’!
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