Bitter knowledge beats at the center of “Spring.” The speaker bemoans how frivolous April's beauty seems now that death has touched her life. The opening lines set up how the speaker's views have changed. She asks April why it has returned “again” (Line 1). “Again” makes it clear that the speaker and April have met before. The second line explains why the speaker asks April about April's reason for coming: “Beauty is not enough” (Line 2). Millay's sequence illustrates that the speaker once highly valued April's beauty. However, the phrase “not enough” implies expectation and contrast. It also signals that the speaker's viewpoint changed since April's last visit when beauty was enough, so she did not need to ask why it came. Millay's speaker doubles down with the phrase “can no longer” (Line 3). Once, spring's red “little leaves opening” provided her joy and peace. However, spring's beauty “is not enough” to “quiet me” (Lines 2-3).

The speaker then says she knows death exists under the beautiful spring scenery. She feels bitter because the season's livelihood only makes death more apparent to her in its seeming absence. Spring cannot distract her from “the brains of men / eaten by maggots” (Lines 11-12).