Emily Dickinson, Poem 1129: Tell all the Truth but tell it slant —
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Tell all the Truth but tell it slant — Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth's superb surpriseAs Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind —

— Emily Dickinson on Truth

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant — Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth's superb surpriseAs Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind —" in the context of "Emily Dickinson, Poem 1129: Tell all the Truth but tell it slant —" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Truth" (D) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Emily Dickinson

About Emily Dickinson

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Virtually unknown in her lifetime, Dickinson has come to be regarded as one of the greatest American poets of the 19th century. Although she wrote (at latest count) 1789 poems, only a few of them were published in her lifetime, all anonymously, and some perhaps without her knowledge.