Close Reading of Emily Dickinson’s “Tell all the truth but tell it slant”

Emily Dickinson’s poem “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” provides important insights into how the form of a text can support the construction of, and even highlight its meaning.  In this short poem, Dickinson is able to weave together many linguistic devices that complement each other perfectly and make the poem flow very easily.  Precisely, it is this apparent easiness in the text that tricks us into what seems a very logical and simple conclusion.  However, once we read the text carefully, peeling and analyzing its different layers, we are able to look at this poem in a new light.

     Given that this essay’s main argument is built around the form of the text, a scansion of four of its lines will provide an insight into the lyrical structure chosen by Dickinson.

Tĕll áll / thĕ trúth / bŭt téll / ĭt slánt /

Sŭccéss / ĭn Cír / cŭit líes /

Tŏo bríght / fŏr óur / ĭnfírm / Dĕlíght /

Thĕ Trúth's / sŭpérb / sŭrpríse /

     Each foot of the poem contains one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable. We find four iambic feet (tetrameter) in the first line, three iambic feet (trimeter) in the second line, four iambic in the third, and three iambic in the fourth.  The structure just described is known as ‘Common Meter’ or ‘Hymn Meter’, which is defined as “a closed poetic quatrain, rhyming A B A B, in which iambic tetrameter alternate with iambic trimeter.” (Washington State University) 

     Dickinson’s use of common meter provides the first clue of how the text’s meaning is brilliantly disguised in this poem.  The text is structured in a fairly simple manner, making it “easy” for the ordinary mind to take in the words.  However, there is nothing simple or easy about this poem.  One must go beyond the outer layer to uncover all the truth.    

    Other important qualities of this poem’s form are provided by its many linguistic elements.  I will concentrate on the ones which are the most relevant to my argument.  Beginning with the use of metaphor, Dickinson compares truth to a bright light.  This comparison is important as it leads us to the contrast between light and darkness.  A mind that does not confront the truth and is closed to new ideas remains in darkness, hence, in ignorance.  Dickinson’s choice of using the figure of lightning as visual imagery in the poem complements the metaphor.  The associations conveyed by this word fit in perfectly with the binary opposition of light and darkness.  

     Additionally, we find the use of simile in lines three to six (Too bright for our infirm Delight / The Truth's superb surprise / As Lightning to the Children eased / With explanation kind) Dickinson explains the shock of being confronted with a surprising truth as something too bright for us to comprehend just like the phenomena of lightning is for children.  We also find the use of alliteration to highlight words that support the poem’s central theme such as tell – truth as well as slant - success - circuit. 

     Furthermore, Dickinson’s use of the term slant brings insight into how the structure and the theme of her poem are intertwined. According to the Emily Dickinson Museum, “rhyme that is not perfect is called ‘slant rhyme’ or ‘approximate rhyme.’” When looking at the text’s unconventional use of rhyme, it becomes clear how the word ‘slant’ serves the disguised purpose of calling attention to the poem’s structure in itself.

     Moving on to the central paradox of the poem, it lies in the apparent contradiction between telling all the truth and getting to it through an indirect or diluted approach.  Some people will argue that the truth must be told bluntly, without circumventing, so that it is pure and free of biases.  The text’s literal layer, however, seems to support the idea of telling the truth more effectively by approaching it gradually and carefully so as to not overwhelm the recipient.

     However, we must go deeper into the layers to find all the truth in this text.  A careful reading of the second line, “Success in Circuit lies,” brings attention to the word lies.  We are now confronted with a binary opposition: the truth versus lies.  Furthermore, this line seems to suggest that lies equal success.  All of a sudden, what we thought was the true meaning of the poem starts crumbling and the brightness of the actual truth threatens to blind us.     

   This discovery is “too bright for our infirm Delight.”  We would be so much happier by having found the meaning of the poem easily, in the outer layer of the text, while naively thinking with satisfaction that the great Emily Dickinson was an advocate for telling the whole truth.  We prefer infirm delight over a solid truth that challenges our minds. We favor a nice little story that gives us peace of mind over the actual truth because it threatens to destroy the basis of our beliefs and then – how do we go from there?

     We have uncovered, therefore, how Dickinson plays with the reader through a text woven with very fine and subtle stitches of satire.   By peeling carefully some of the layers, we realize how she is comparing the common mind to that of a child who chooses to live in an illusion rather than being confronted with ugly truths about the world. Someone who does not dig or question the layers of society, gender norms, tradition, etc., will probably find it easier to navigate the world, have successful relations and achieve, therefore, success in life.

     Dickinson’s genius shines in this poem where the playful and witty use of language with multiple meanings and her subtle irony are brilliantly disguised by rather conventional uses of meter and linguistic elements.  This poem about truth contains a truth in itself and it is up to the reader to confront the brightness of the lightning and not be blinded by its surprising revelation.   

               

References

Emily Dickinson, "Tell all the truth but tell it slant" from The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Reading Edition, ed by Ralph W. Franklin. (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998) 

Emily Dickinson Museum, https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/poetry_characteristics

Washington State University, http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/common.html