Written around 1868, Dickinson’s poem reveals her view of the truth as something that must be broken to listeners gently. The poem’s voice seems to be Dickinson’s own, and she admonishes the reader to ultimately reveal everything, the whole truth and nothing but. However, with the addition of the expression “tell it slant,” she requests that the telling be done tenderly. The rest of the poem is devoted to explaining why.
Dickinson’s Meaning Decoded
In line 2, Dickinson states, “Success in Circuit lies.” This refers not to the avoidance of truth-telling. Instead, it indicates that the teller should move in circles towards the truth. A colloquial expression for this method might be ‘beat around the bush’ before the matter is fully revealed.
In line 3, “Too bright for our infirm Delight” is a reference to the fact that humans are essentially frail and that truth is too intense for whatever fragile happiness we might now have. The next line, which again refers to truth, this time calls it a “superb surprise,” a phrase that refers to truth's ability to deliver an supreme shock.
This analogy is called on again in line five, where this “superb surprise” is compared to lightning, a swiftly moving form of light that both surprises and terrifies. Here, Dickinson refers to “Children,” which is really another reference to the fragility and uncertainty experienced by adults. Dickinson explains that this terror in children is mitigated by a compassionate explanation.
In the final two lines, Dickinson again compares truth to light, specifically an intense light. Her meaning is that truth is like a bright light shone in the darkest corners of dim ignorance or the shadowy unknown, making everything clearly visible. Yet, revelations like this, while offering a view of everything, can damage the person to whom it is revealed. At the end of the poem, she exhorts the truth teller again to “dazzle gradually” lest she, and every person who is on the receiving end of some spoken truth, be blinded by its shocking power.
Theme
Dickinson’s poem reveals the innocent comfort of living a life unaware of certain truths. Her repeated references to light are symbolic, indicating a comparison between illumination of a subject and personal enlightenment. Her allusion to truth’s power to “dazzle” and “blind” indicates that this enlightenment does not necessarily bring with it happiness, but instead it often brings pain and perhaps even permanent damage if exposed too abruptly.
Rhyme Type and Rhyme Scheme
While Emily Dickinson is renowned for her slant rhymes (rhymes with differing vowel sounds but with matching consonant endings), the poet employs perfect rhyme in “Tell all the Truth…”. Perfect rhyme is characterized by matching vowel sounds and matching consonant endings, as seen in the concluding words of lines 2 and 4 ("lies" and "surprise") and 6 and 8 ("kind" and "blind").
The rhyme scheme, meaning the pattern of rhyme within the poem, follows this way: A B C B D E D F. "A," in this case, corresponds with the last word in the first line, which is "slant." Meanwhile,"B" corresponds with the last word in the second line, "lies." This word finds an exact rhyme in the last word of line four, "surprise," whereas the last word of line three, "Delight," rhymes with none of the other final words present. This pattern continues into the second half of the poem, with new letters assigned to new rhyming words, so as not to confuse previous rhyming pairs with the new ones.
Relation to Dickinson’s Own Life
Dickinson was a noted recluse, who, in her late twenties, confined herself to contact only with her family circle. Later still, she spent much of her life in her bedroom, where she wrote voluminous correspondence and, of course, her 1,700 poems. Her experiences in the outside world were marked by a high degree of tension, as noted by a period literary critic and family friend named Thomas Wentworth Higginson, who indicated that Dickinson could barely contain her nervousness during their meetings.
With her high degree of sensitivity to contact with the outside world, it might be argued that Dickinson is revealing something about her own desire for gentle treatment when truths must be revealed. She may not have been able to tolerate large doses of disturbing information, and particularly not from those outside her immediate family.
Savannah Schroll Guz - Savannah Schroll Guz holds a Master's Degree from the University of Pittsburgh. In 1997-1998, she was a Fulbright Scholar and worked as a ...
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