In the extract “The Burial of the Dead” what immediately stricke the readers attention is the expression “April in the cruelest month” at the very opening of the text. Immediately the reader realizes that the images of spring and winter have been turned upside down by Eliot. As regards this it’s worth saying that in order to understand better meaning Eliot gives spring, the reader has to be aware that here Eliot is using allusions. In other words allusion in a device use by Eliot to refer to quotations from other works. In this case Eliot is referring to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. However while in that poem April is described as the cruelest month; while in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales April has a positive connotation since it means regeneration of nature and life. Here it is cruel because it waters the land and the dull roots with spring rain thus making man suffer. As a matter of fact winter prevents man from desires and keeps us worm. Another element to consider is the use of past and present mixed together. As a matter of fact Eliot describes the crowd of people walking over London Bridge and in order to convey the mood of the people he refers to Dante’s Inferno where people sighed. In other words although time is different, the situation represented is timeless, that is to say man’s suffering is eternal. Last but not least the last line taken from Baudelaire’s “Fleurs du mail” deserves particular attention. Trough it Eliot wants to convey the condition of man who is described in his sin evil and living a life of boredom and afraid of facing life rebirth.