tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17676950.post5886628520245518403..comments2024-03-21T23:30:20.105-04:00Comments on Poets Online - the blog: Conversations About PoetryPoets Onlinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11880224855001620610noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17676950.post-56758769578831322142016-05-23T17:51:09.443-04:002016-05-23T17:51:09.443-04:00I'm intrigued by the logical structure of the ...I'm intrigued by the logical structure of the poem. I see it two main parts of four lines each. The first two lines begin with an injunction: "Tell all the truth" immediately qualified: "but tell it slant." Then something in the way of justification: the truth told directly is "too bright," for us, its "superb surprise" too much for us in our infirmity or weakness. Best therefore to approach it circuitously. Taken together, they make a tight argument about what to do with the truth.<br /><br />The last four lines restating the case are built upon a simile: "It's like this,: Dickinson suggests: In the same way we give children simplified explanations for lightning because the truth might be too complex (or perhaps too terrifying), we should approach Truth obliquely, less it blind us, or those to whom we are trying to share it.<br /><br />It's a cautionary poem. It's hard for me to read it without thinking of Jack Nicholson's in A Few Good Men: "You want the truth? You can't handle the truth." Nicholson, of course, had his own not-so-good reasons for wanting to keep the truth hidden. Dickinson chooses to end her poem by suggesting that approaching the truth obliquely is less an act of duplicity than an act of charity, or as she suggests, simple kindness: we should be careful with the truth in order not to blind one another.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17676950.post-68563760184293056762016-05-22T20:36:10.342-04:002016-05-22T20:36:10.342-04:00Tell the truth but don't merely transcribe day...Tell the truth but don't merely transcribe day-to-day life. The truth is powerful - perhaps too powerful at times. Circle it - "dazzle gradually" - before the fear, awe and lightning hits.Pamnoreply@blogger.com