Tell all the Truth but tell it slant -- - A poem by Emily Dickinson

Poet: Emily Dickinson
Poem: 1129. Tell all the Truth but tell it slant --
Volume: Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
Year: Published/Written in 1955
Poem of the Day: Dec 17 2002

Comment 26 of 26, added on June 17th, 2008 at 7:18 PM.

HOW CAN ONE SUPPORT THE IDEA ABOUT THE POEM INTERPRETATION AS GIVEN ABOVE?

NAHSON KABUYAYA from Congo, Democratic Republic of

Comment 25 of 26, added on February 6th, 2008 at 5:37 AM.

"Tell the Truth but Tell it Slant"

Poetry can be perceived in many ways, this is my interpretation:

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant---
Success in Cirrcuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth's superb surprise

As Lightening to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind---

In the first line of the poem the letter "T" is alliterated in the words "tell" "truth" "tell" to emphasize that telling the truth is important. Dickinson then argues of the way in which the truth should be told. Dickinson states " Success in Circuit Lies", here she alliterates "Success" "Circuit" Using the soft sound of the letter "s". Thus only in the first stanza she explains that the truth should be told, but cautiously. She explains that many times we think we want to know the truth to our "delight" but we are "infirm" , thus, being told the truth leads to making us even more weak. We should avoid telling the truth as a "superb surprise".

In the Second Stanza,Dickinson deliberates on this explanation about telling the truth. She explains that truth must be told as it is told to the children and how it is explained to them. She uses "lightning" as an example.( A mother would not tell her scared child to beware of lightning because it would kill him. Saying so would shock or "blind" him with the knowledge of the truth. Instead of shocking him she would instead care of him and tell him as long as they were under their house they would be safe.) She uses "kind" explanations. The truth must be told gradually, and the mother could eventually teach her child of the true harm lightning can cause, but "Truth must dazzle gradually".

Most importantly Dickinson explains that the teller of the truth must be careful and gentle in the way he/she tells the truth. The teller is responsible for her audience.

Katie from United States

Comment 24 of 26, added on February 1st, 2008 at 3:02 AM.

For of all I don't see how this poem can be about God. I believe that it is about depression that weighs down your body. As the weather changes so does your mood. The lines "We can find no scar,/But internal differences-", made me think that the speaker of the people was depressed and no one could see these scars inside of her/him.

Sara from Italy

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