Slanted Truth

I think to “tell all the truth but tell is slant” means to tell everything truthfully, but do so in a more subtle way so that it doesn’t hurt anyone. I think this applies to harsh facts. When we know the truth will hurt someone, we should still tell them the whole thing, but do so moderately so that it doesn’t hit the person hard. This is especially crucial when talking to kids. As in the poem “As Lightening to the Children eased/ With explanation kind”. If we tell kids the plain harsh facts, they might not be able to take it. 

I strongly agree with the last two lines of the poem: “The Truth must dazzle gradually/ Or every man be blind”. If the truth is overwhelming, it must be told gradually, or else everyone would be “blinded” by it. I think the choice of the word “dazzle” here is very smart. Dazzle means to blind temporarily by bright lights. The truth can be analogous to light here because, both things are positive, but too much of it at once can hurt somebody. 

My favorite line in the poem is “The Truth’s superb surprise”. This line is really fun to read because of the alliteration of s and p in superb and surprise. The meaning of the line is also quite interesting. I liked how Dickinson described truth as a splendid surprise.