Tell+All+the+Truth+but+Tell+It+Slant

Alex Godinez Anthony Mancha Brandon Kayaban

**"Tell All The Truth but Tell It Slant"** Emily Dickinson 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--- [] [] **__ Sound Devices __** Internal rhyme is used in line (3) "Too bright for our infirm  delight " **__ Figurative Language __** <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: center;">Metaphor is used in line (5) " as lightning to the children eased"  <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: center;">Simile is used in line (5) " as lightning to the children eased"  <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Verbal Irony is used in line (7) "the truth must dazzle gradually" <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 180%;"> **__ Explication __** __**<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: center;">Gentle Truth or Harsh Reality **__

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;"> Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Tell all the truth but tell it slant,” is another one of Dickinson’s poems that expresses just how she feels about honesty. Like many of her poems, truth is a theme that she likes to return to often. Dickinson’s ability to help her readers comprehend how she feels about a topic is very evident in most of her poetry, but none more so than, “Tell all the truth but tell it slant.”

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;"> In “Tell all the truth but tell it slant,” the reader is given instruction on how to tell the truth. The instruction is to go about getting to the truth in a round about matter, not directly telling the truth. If the truth is told directly, the person receiving it would not be able to understand it. In the same way that children do not understand many things adults can, the truth is as hard to comprehend. If the truth isn’t told kindly and gently the person will in no way be able to receive it. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;"> In the poem, our interpretation is that Emily Dickinson is telling you to “Tell the truth” as obviously as possible, but also to “Tell it slant” which means to tell it not strait forward but to have a sort of indirect answer to the truth. Also, she says “Success in Circuit lies” which could mean success is earned by telling repetitive or consistent lies. But instead of lies, Dickinson means the “Slanted Truth.”

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;"> The lines “Too bright for our infirm delight,” and “The truths superb surprise,” means that finding out the truth, or gaining knowledge of the truth can be too strong (too bright) for ones understanding. Internal rhyme is used in the line “Too bright for our infirm delight,” it is heard in the words bright and delight. Dickinson uses metaphor and simile in the line “as lightning to the children eased”, she compares the truth to that of a bright light like lightning which is a metaphor and compares the truth to lightning which is a simile. In the line “The truth must dazzle gradually,” Dickinson uses verbal irony. She may not have really been thinking that the truth should dazzle but that it should be told in a way that they could understand. The line “Or every man be blind,” means that truth should not be tossed around and given strait-forward. Truth should be told indirectly because sometimes the truth can hurt and cause us to not see it because of the pain associated with it. Dickinson uses verbal irony in the poem and it seems to be the overall tone of the poem. She is not really cutting down people but is saying that too many people cannot really handle the truth so it has to be told in a way that can be handled. The overall theme of the poem is to tell the truth but to be careful how it is told.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;"> Emily Dickinson uses many literary devices in her poetry, and it can be hard to fully understand it. But once time is spent reading and comprehending it, many people enjoy her poetry, for it is unique and memorable. Dickinson’s life molded her into the person she had become and changed her, which is what makes her poetry so unique.