Tell all the truth but tell it slant

Dashes are a signature punctuation symbol throughout Dickinson’s repertoire. Dickinson uses dashes in different ways, depending on the poem. For example, some dashes create a pause for emphasis, whereas others replace punctuation (Khabarov, Kristina. “Dickinson’s Use of Dashes.” Great Works of Literature. 2019). Both functions are at work for “Tell all the truth but tell it slant,” as seen at the end of Lines 1 and 8, where they follow the words “slant” and “blind.” The dashes function as a pause and a period, and they are the only punctuation marks in the entire poem. In addition, by adding an intentional pause, the reader focuses on both the how (how to tell the truth) and the what (the outcome if the truth is told unfettered). Dickinson also utilizes their placement in the first and last line as the architecture of the poem, encasing a carefully contrived, dualistic narrative.

Dashes are not the only motif present in Dickinson’s poems. She uses capital letters in ways that seem initially arbitrary, until the reader gives a second look. With the exception of the first letter of each line, Dickinson capitalizes the following words: Success (Line 2), Circuit (Line 2), Delight (Line 3),Truth (Line 4), Lightning and Children (Line 5), and Truth (Line 7).