Tell all the truth but tell it slant

“Tell all the truth but tell it slant” is one of Emily Dickinson’s most known Lyric poems. She wrote the poem in the mid-to-late 19th century. She wrote over 1,800 poems, with most discovered posthumously towards the 1900s. Dickinson published 10 poems during her lifetime.

Experts estimate that Dickinson wrote this poem during her most productive period, coined “The Writing Years,” which spanned from 1858-1865. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson published a compilation of her work in 1955.

The poem is signature of Dickinson’s introspective and experimental style: of shorter line length, use of dashes, and capitalization. It also uses metaphor, playful syntax, and more abstract vocabulary.

As a product of the Romantic literary period and the influence of Transcendentalist writers, “Tell all the truth but tell it slant” moves from rigid, logical social codes to deeper focus on the self, and how social codes impact empathy and humanity.

Dickinson’s poem is so universally accessible because it focuses on themes that are deeply rooted to human nature, the tradition of values, and how we put a face to the abstract. Specifically, “Tell All the Truth, but Tell It Slant” approaches three core themes: the problems with following social values to the letter, the nature of human beings (especially vulnerability), and how to shape the power and characteristics of an abstract concept, like truth.

Poet Biography

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) was born in Amherst, Massachusetts at the family Homestead, built by her grandfather, Samuel Fowler Dickinson, one of the original founders of Amherst College. They later moved to a bigger house on North Pleasant Street. She was the middle of three children, her older brother, Austin, and her younger sister, Lavinia. Her parents, Noreen Norcross Dickinson and Edward Dickinson, were strict and religious (Calvinist). Edward was a lawyer and treasurer for Amherst College.

With frail health, Dickinson often stayed home from Amherst Academy, but teachers praised her for her “prodigious” composition skills. She cultivated deeper relationships with her siblings, which continued into adulthood when her brother and his wife (Susan Gilbert) later moved next door. She then attended Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College) for only one year due to homesickness and the Seminary’s strict, dogmatic focus.

Dickinson’s early writing was mostly epistolary. She wrote many of her letters to Susan Gilbert, who introduced her to Elizabeth Barret Browning’s poetry. Browning’s status as a female poet inspired her. She also developed interest in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s discourse on Transcendentalism.

Dickinson’s social interactions waned in her early twenties. She wrote letters to a specific few. Her mother fell ill from 1855-1859, and the Dickinson sisters took on more domestic roles. She remained isolated, with most of her social interactions conducted from behind her front door.

It wasn’t until 1858 that Dickinson compiled manuscripts of poetry, which included “Tell all the truth but tell it slant.”

Poem Text

Tell all the truth but tell it slant —

Success in Circuit lies

Too bright for our infirm Delight

The Truth’s superb surprise

As Lightning to the Children eased

With explanation kind

The Truth must dazzle gradually

Or every man be blind —

Dickinson, Emily. “Tell all the truth but tell it slant.” c. 1890. Poetry Foundation.

Summary

“Tell all the truth but tell it slant” is a short lyric poem that explores the negative impacts of telling the truth and the positive impact of spinning the truth in the delivery. While telling the truth is a cultural morality, there is a social necessity to tell the truth “nicely,” leaving however it may be achieved up to the reader. Dickinson also plays on this dialectic of truth and lies, and how easily they can overlap.

Lines 1-3 confront the reader with the notion of truth and the overwhelming impact that comes with bearing all details.

Line 1 begins, “Tell all the truth but tell it slant —” advising that one should tell the truth, but one should do so in an augmented way. Lines 2 and 3 build upon this advice: “Success in Circuit Lies / Too bright for our infirm Delight.” The dictionary states that “success” can mean “outcome.” This outcome may be that the truth—its light and power—may be too powerful for someone to receive. The adjective “infirm” suggests a vulnerability to that power.

Lines 4-6 embody the truth through simile to demonstrate its own forceful impact and for the importance of delivering the truth with care: “The Truth's superb surprise / As Lightning to the Children eased / With explanation kind.”

In the fourth line, the speaker describes the truth as both “superb,” meaning a high degree of brilliance, and a “surprise,” an abstract noun, which can suggest both a good and bad outcome. In the fifth line, the speaker uses a simile to compare the scary nature of the truth to the powerful force of lightning. The focus returns to those most vulnerable to the emotional impact of the truth: children and “easing” that scary emotion.Lines 7-8 present the turn in the poem, as the focus moves from impacting the vulnerable to all of humankind: “The Truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man be blind —.” The lines also reinforce the idea of mindfulness; otherwise, there could be a severe impact. Dickinson reinforces this by returning to the metaphor of unbridled light and power: Without care, the truth can render the recipient “blind.”