An Analysis of Emily Dickinson’s Tell all the Truth but Tell it Slant

The poem Tell all the truth but tell it to slant by Emily Dickinson presents the clashing relationship on whether truth is subjective or objective. Right off the bat, the first line of the poem introduces readers to the main controversial issue: tell the truth, but tell it slant. In other words, tell the truth, but not the whole truth, because that is when everything goes downhill; at least, in the speaker’s opinion, it does. In this poem, Dickinson presents a speaker who is perceived as an individual who is a figure of authority, or rather somebody well-versed with life experiences that are giving an unknowing audience life advice.

By utilizing iambic form, a variety of rhetorical devices, vocabulary with multiple interpretations, and purposeful sound effects in addition to visual patterns, the speaker ultimately suggests that the truth is easier to tolerate when it is eased in. Emily Dickinson was notoriously known for her religious devotion, which inspired most of her poems to have a ballad and/or church-like form, including Tell all the truth but tell it to slant.

The poem is written in the typical ballad form, influenced by church hymns courtesy to the author herself, in addition to alternating lines of iambic tetrameters. To top it off, Dickenson employs end rhymes and slant rhymes to emphasize the speaker’s instruction, to tell the truth, slant or warped, mirroring the rhymes. The specific rhymes and sound techniques, such as consonance and assonance, makes the advice given by the speaker transition effortlessly and smoothly to the audience, making it easier to follow the piece of advice given. By hiding her complex philosophies within rhymes, it makes the argument of whether truth should be objective or subjective less intimidating to the audience. The variety of rhetorical devices utilized, such as similes, metaphors, and allegories, is to demonstrate why truth is objective but should be told in order to save those from being blinded or hurt. Dickinson writes about light related themes throughout the poem, basically associating truth with light. An example of this simile between light and truth is when Dickinson writes, As Lightning to the Children eased / With explanation kind / The Truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man be blind— (5-8).

In other words, the way lightning is explained to children is, for the most part, delicately so the children don’t fear it as much as they do initially. Another explanation for the light metaphors could be that since truth is not a physical figure that can be visually seen, the author purposefully uses light as a way to illuminate the truth to make it discernible to the audience. Hence, why if the truth is too bright, literally and figuratively, it can blind individuals. She also reinforces the idea of telling the truth subjectively as a beneficial thing by calling a whole truth a superb surprise (4), which can overpower people to the point of, once again, blindness. Or in the case of reality, the whole truth will not literally blind an individual but will result in ignorance of what they have been told due to the fact it was too much to handle. The collection of vocabulary in the poem solidifies the speaker’s advising, wise tone, along with conveying the all-powerful essence of the truth. For example, Dickinson writes, Too bright for our infirm Delight (3).

The word infirm is defined as being physically and/or mentally weak. In this instance, by using infirm, Dickinson clashes with the normally positive connotation of the word Delight. Thus, delight in this circumstance would represent a negative connotation, meaning: to be something that is frail. If the audience had prior insight into Emily Dickinson as an individual, they would know she was extremely religious. Knowing this, another thought-provoking choice of vocabulary was the intention of capitalizing certain words, such as Truth and Children. Her religious influence creeps into the poem giving these emphasized words an alternate meaning. In this case, Truth could possibly stand for God or any higher being, while Children can be in reference to children of God or, in other words, those who believe and follow him. With this alternate meaning in mind, the audience could derive that the truth constantly being spoken of is a religious truth. The author’s particular choice of vocabulary lets the audience view the nature of truth-telling as having multiple meanings.

All in all, the visual patterns and sound effects in the poem give the demanding advice a comforting, light-hearted feel. By employing an ABCB rhyme scheme, the speaker’s critical advice is portrayed in a more buoyant way. The nursery-like rhymes not only make the poem easier on the ears but also grab the attention of the audience hearing and/or reading it. When looking at the poem on paper, readers can visually see the neat layout. Lines alternate from long to short and back to long in order to form a circular-like pattern, similar to a Circuit, which she references. However, dashes on the first and last lines of the poem stick out like a sore thumb. The dashes from the first line represent the beginning of the speaker’s reasoning as to why the audience should follow her advice to tell the truth, slant.

The last dash that finishes off the poem is there to leave the audience with a dramatic, lasting pause in hopes of the audience swallowing the truth pill. Although Emily Dickinson’s poem Tell the truth but tell it slant was from the 18th century, the words of advice given by the speaker still stand today. In our current society, individuals are still being fed the truth little by little from the media, news channels, and any other source of information we look to. If these sources of news were to give society the truth head-on, chaos would surely ensue. By utilizing iambic form, a variety of rhetorical devices, vocabulary with multiple interpretations, and purposeful sound effects in addition to visual patterns, this poem asserts the idea of how the truth is objective but should be told in order to save those from being blinded or hurt.

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