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—
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The work above is known simply as #1129 — a constant reminder of how
heavily those who collected and edited Emily Dickinson's manuscripts posthumously influence how we experience the sequencing, punctuation, and other attributes of her poems today.
I sometimes experience the poem above in conversation with Robert Frost, who decades later asks Tellers of Truths to "Choose Something Like A Star."
MC Emmie D is also well known for her Slant in #258, "There's a certain Slant of light," and for her frequent use of slant rhyme and dashes of various slants and lengths. (There's a brilliant article by Saskia Hamilton in the most recent issue of American Poet magazine on Dickinson's use of slant rhyme and breath that I wish I could link you to, but unfortunately it does not yet exist on the
internets.)
April is National Poetry Month, and I am celebrating by emailing out
my own selection of one poem per day for the duration of the month. To
learn more about National Poetry Month, or to subscribe to a more
official-like Poem-a-Day list, visit www.poets.org.
— Ellen
Labels: Dickinson, NPM