Student Question
Does "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant" by Emily Dickinson have a rhyme scheme or use slant rhymes?
Quick answer:
Emily Dickinson's poem "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant" features a unique rhyme scheme of a/b/c/b/d/e/f/e, with even-numbered lines rhyming and odd-numbered lines not rhyming. The poem uses slant rhymes and sound devices like assonance and alliteration to create complex sound patterns, enhancing its thematic depth. Dickinson's use of slant rhymes and unconventional rhyme schemes is a hallmark of her poetic style.
The rhyme scheme of Emily Dickinson’s poem “Tell all the Truth but Tell it slant—” seems relatively straightforward at first. Line 2 clearly rhymes with line 4, while line 6 obviously rhymes with line 8. The poem thus seems to have a rhyme scheme of a/b/c/b/d/e/f/e. In other words, the first two even-numbered lines rhyme with one another, as do the final two even-numbered lines. Meanwhile, none of the odd-numbered lines rhyme. This kind of unusual rhyme scheme is typical of Dickinson, whose works are also unconventional in many other ways.
Notice, however, that Dickinson plays more tricks with sounds than might be apparent from the rhyme scheme described above. Thus line 2 ends with the word “lies,” while line 3 ends with the word “Delight.” Even though these two words do not rhyme, they are linked together by their use...
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of assonance – a repetition of the same vowel sounds. In this case, the long “i” sound is heard in both words. Similarly, the word “surprise,” which ends line 4, shares some similarities of sound with “eased” in the next line. Here the similarity lies in the use ofalliteration, or a repetition of consonant sounds. In this case, the consonant “s” is emphasized in each of these final words. Meanwhile, the final word “eased” in line 5 links, through assonance, with the final syllable of “gradually” at the end of line 7. In both cases, a long “e” sound is heard. Finally, the last word of the poem – “blind” – not only rhymes with “kind” in line 6 but also echoes the long “i” sounds of “lies,” “Delight,” and “surprise” in lines 2-4. While it would be too much to call some of these echoes “slant rhymes,” it does seem fair to say that the sounds of Dickinson’s poem are more complex and more intriguing than its relatively simple and obvious rhyme scheme would initially suggest.
Did Emily Dickinson write other poems like "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant"?
Truth is a frequent topic of many of Emily Dickinson’s works besides “Tell all the truth but tell it slant –.” Among such poems are the following:
- “I died for Beauty -- but was scarce,” which opens as follows:
I died for beauty, but was scarce
Adjusted in the tomb,
When one who died for truth was lain
In an adjoining room. (1-4)
The poem then discusses the close relationship between beauty and truth.
- “’Tis so appalling – it exhilarates,” which includes the memorable line “The Truth, is Bald, and Cold —” (9).
- “A Tongue -- to tell him I am true” mentions truth in its very opening line.
- “Triumph may be on several kinds” contains the following stanza:
There 's triumph of the finer mind
When truth, affronted long,
Advances calm to her supreme,
Her God her only throng. (5-8)
- “We dream – it is good we are dreaming” asserts that “Men die – externally / It is a truth – of Blood” (5-6).
- “We learned the Whole of Love” concludes with the exclamation “Alas, that Wisdom is so large -- / And Truth – so manifold!” (11-12).
- “The Truth – is stirless” contrasts the reliability and steadfastness of truth with the mutability of almost every worldly thing and concludes that
Truth stays [that is, supports] Herself – and every man
That trusts Her – boldly up – (11-12)
- “Truth – is as old as God” continues as follows:
His Twin identity
And will endure as long as He
A Co-Eternity
And perish on the Day
Himself is borne away
From Mansion of the Universe
A lifeless Deity. (1-8)
Numerous other references to “truth” (not to mention such related words as “true”) can be traced or searched in various complete editions of Dickinson’s poems, all offering fruitful grounds for comparison and contrast with “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant--.” The latter poem, however, is by far her most famous treatment of the topic.
A very useful resource is Stanford Patrick Rosenbaum, A Concordance to the Poems of Emily Dickinson (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991).