Welcome to Cross-Cultural Collaboration-Spring 2007: A Conversation about Emily Dickinson, an online conversation among students in two classes at Clemson University, South Carolina, United States, and one class at Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Group 2: Jason C., Jennifer J., Shakia K., Heather M., Christopher R., Gordon S., Joel S.
16 comments:
Anonymous
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Dear Group 2,
Good day to all. My name is Gordon, and I am taking Victorian Poetry at Clemson University under the direction of Dr. Art Young. While I much enjoy poetry, my field of focus is early-American literature (17th and 18th century) with a touch of Transatlantic studies. My background in poetry is not substantial, nor would I consider it utterly shallow. I guess I fall somewhere in the middle. Thus, I look forward to reading all of your insights in hopes that some of you with more experience may enlighten my reading(s) of Emily Dickinson.
Emily Dickinson’s “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” is quite pertinent to the social situation abounding in the Victorian Age. An age of both masking and deceit, the late-19th century and all of its social upheaval resulted in a situation where “bending the truth” was almost as second-nature as using the small fork to eat the salad. Though Dickinson did indeed live in America, the social circumstances in America during the mid to late-19th century mirrored the social circumstances of Victorian England. While I recognize that deeming this American epoch “Victorian” is a bit of a misnomer, simply because Queen Victoria is not Queen of America, the term “Victorian” is an adequate generalization when referring to the social ideals of America during the mid to late-19th century. In her poem Dickinson compares the outpouring of truthful statements to a child’s first encounter with lightning—one, she contends, must be “eased / With explanation kind” (ll. 5-6). Ironically, lightning is a natural phenomenon—or, as was often the case in an epoch where a grounded belief in spirituality tended to supplant scientific explanation, a spiritual phenomenon. Thus, with such a comparison Dickinson transcends “truth” beyond human comprehension—itself becoming the phenomenon of truth—and ultimately renders “un-slanted” truth unattainable, in understanding and deliverance. Truth is quite simply “Too bright for our infirm Delight” (l. 3). Her use of the word “Delight” implies that she wishes this word to be read with its archaic meaning—“the power of affording pleasure” (Webster Online). Thus, Dickinson evidences her position that “slant truth” is the only means of “stability” in her contemporary society—lest all should suddenly seek displeasure. Dickinson further notes that “our…Delight” has been reduced to infirmity—“of poor or deteriorated vitality, weak of mind” (Webster Online)—and as such, society, she asserts, is unable to handle “Truth’s superb surprise” (l. 4).
Contrary to a deluge of truth, “The Truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man be blind” (ll. 7-8). Dickinson is not contending that people lie, but merely that individuals alter the truthfulness of their statements—they must only fib; for, such small doses of truth will maintain the proper balance, and no individual will be propelled into a self revelation that is unpleasant. Likewise, the mask veiling the “true” nature of society will never be fully exposed.
Moreover, “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” resembles a church hymn in composition. It is ironic, then, that Dickinson chooses to compose a poem preaching the necessity of “un-truthfulness” in “contemporary” society in such a mode.
My name is Christopher R. I am an exchange student from America taking Fiction for Engineers at Chalmers University of Technology in Goteborg, Sweden. I am originally from Wisconsin and I go to the University of Minnesota. I rarely read poetry and therefore my background with it is fairly sparse.
I think that in the first poem, the liquor that Dickinson is talking about is a feeling. The liquor never tasted is a feeling never felt. She speaks of being inebriated and I think that means that she is “drunk” with this feeling. I would assume this to be happiness but it really could be any feeling. She says “Till seraphs swing their snowy hats”, maybe this implies that this feeling is seasonal because she also speaks of endless summer days. I am interested to see what you guys think of this poem.
The fourth poem about truth somewhat puzzles me. I think that what she is trying to say is that sometimes the truth can be harmful and that in order to keep some people content, you must tell little lies to prevent some bad feelings. She says the truth must dazzle gradually. Perhaps this means that at first you should tell what the person wants to hear, and then slowly bring them in on the thing that they did not want to hear. I am puzzled.
I liked the fifth poem about the sea. She takes her dog to the beach and sits down. Then she talks about frigates in the upper floor. I imagined huge ships out at sea looking down upon her like she was a mouse on the sand. The she talks about the tide and how it slowly gets higher and passes her shoes and clothing. This tide could be a person or another feeling that Dickinson is battling within herself. It seems as though she will be swallowed by this “tide” but in the end it withdraws. The tide rising and falling could resemble any time in a humans life. It seems like the end of the world and that you will be swallowed up. But eventually, the tide will go down and you will feel better about something that you used to feel awful about.
Frigate - a modern warship that is smaller than a destroyer I did not know that a frigate implied a warship or a battleship. This could further add to my theory of a bad feeling. These warships and hungry tide are trying to swallow Dickinson but eventually they fade away.
Dear Fellow Classmates, Hi! My name is Heather, and I am currently taking Victorian Poetry with Dr. Young at Clemson University. I am originally from a small town in Michigan and have since moved to South Carolina. Anyway-I am looking forward to working with all of you. I am listed as a member of Group #2, but I would appreciate feedback from any members of the blog. Victorian poetry is not necessarily my strong point; however, I will try to explain my ideas thoughtfully. In Emily Dickinson’s “There’s a certain slant of light,” a shift in weather or in personal beliefs changes the narrator internally. Emotionally, the speaker reflects sadness with the long winter day. She states: Heavenly hurt it gives us; We can find no scar, But internal difference Where the meanings are. (ll. 5-8) Pensive images of winter go through my mind when I read this stanza. In these moments, on a cold winter day, time stops; and one is permitted to reflect on the meaning of life. Is life futile? Are we insignificant? Will there be a break in the weather and in the oppression? With this questioning, comes a feeling of powerlessness for the speaker. The moment and feeling is overwhelming and “[n]one may teach it anything” (l. 9). Sadness is reflected and even “the landscape listens” (l. 13). Images of change and oppression abound in this poem. Dickinson’s word choice helps to embody her theme of change (seasonal and/or personal). She uses words like oppresses, despair and affliction to further establish a depressing atmosphere (ll. 3, 10, 11). I looked up a few words in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary to understand Dickinson’s use of these words more thoroughly. Oppression is defined as: “a sense of being weighed down in body or mind.” Affliction is defined as “great suffering.” I am wondering if Dickinson is describing the pain one goes through while processing ideas and beliefs? Change usually brings an upheaval of some sort… Finally, with the release of or acceptance of this change, relief comes: “When it goes, ’t is like the distance / On the look of death” (ll. 15-16). From far away, the significance of the feelings still lingers because she sees death in the image. On a beautiful spring day in South Carolina, it is easy for me to remember my cold past in Michigan and interpret this poem through those eyes; however, I am also reminded of the fear change brings. Metaphorically speaking, “There’s a certain slant of light” brings to mind images one feels while struggling with the important questions of life. I am interested in what you think.
My name is Jennifer, and I am currently taking Victorian Poetry with Dr. Art Young at Clemson University. I am from Enoree, SC, a very small town in Spartanburg County. The only other class of poetry that I have taken is Modern American Poetry, which I tend to like more than Victorian; however, being in Dr. Young’s class has really opened my eyes about the Victorian Age. I love poetry, and I write some now and then, but my main focus (or what I would like it to be) is women writers and southern literature. I look forward to reading your letters and understanding Emily Dickinson all over again.
The general meaning of “BECAUSE I could not stop for Death” seems to be that the speaker feels that the day she realized she was going to die was the longest day of her life, and it felt even longer than the centuries she has spent in eternity. That in itself is an interesting thought because one would think that eternity would feel like a burden, but for the speaker life was a burden.
The first critical aspect of the poem is the capitalization of “BECAUSE” (1). The capitalization sets the poem up like a cause-and-effect scenario. Because she was so busy in life, death just came and took her. “Death” and “Immortality” are also capitalized but only in the first letter of each word (1, 4). These three words are the most important of the poem as they provide the basis of the plot—reason, result, and effect.
In the second stanza, Dickinson does not say we drove slowly but “we slowly drove” (5). The order of the phrase is important because the way Dickinson orders the phrase slows down the pace of the line, even into the next phrase “he knew no haste” (5). The slowing down of the poem reiterates the last stanza where she says that the day she died was longer than the days in eternity.
The speaker mentions that she “had put away/my labor, and my leisure too” (6-7). I believe that her labor is her womanly duties or the labor around the house, and her leisure is her writing. What do you guys think? Also, in stanza four, the speaker says that they “paused before a house,” and in the next stanza she says “Since then” (13, 17). Are we to assume that death left her at that house? I’m not sure about that stanza.
Cornice from dictionary.com:
Architecture. a. any prominent, continuous, horizontally projecting feature surmounting a wall or other construction, or dividing it horizontally for compositional purposes.
This definition shows that the house death pulls up to is hidden so much that the top of the house cannot even be seen. Can we assume this structure could be a church?
Dear Group, My name is Jason C. and I am currently taking English 214: American Literature at Clemson University. As a sophomore, I have had some experience with poetry and I am quite familiar with Emily Dickenson poems from the AP English courses I took in high school. From the five selected Dickenson poems, my favorite is “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—.” Dickenson conveys a deep meaning that suggests lying is almost a necessity in life. I am most intrigued when the speaker states, “The truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man be blind—.” (Lines 7-8). Though I am not completely certain about what Dickenson means by this, I feel that the message she is trying to convey is that stretching the truth opens peoples’ eyes and that lies are often needed in life. I was rather confused when the speaker states, “As Lightening to the Children eased.” (Line 5). Does anyone know what this means? From previous Dickenson poems and poetry in general, I assume this is a metaphor. In all likelihood, it is a metaphor for lies and how they can sometimes help in life. According to Webster, “lightning” means very fast or a flash of electricity in the sky, and “ease” means absence of difficulty. By choosing these words, I feel that Dickenson conveys that lying to children makes is a fast and easy alternative to telling them the truth. What do you guys think?
Hello everyone! My name is Shakia. I'm senior at Clemson University currently enrolled in Dr. Reiss's American Literature class. I'm a senior majoring in sociology with a minor in pan african studies. It's been a while since I've had a English class, so I'm not really familiar with Dickinson's poems.
Emily Dickison's "-because i could not stop for Death,"is my favorite of the five poems selected. This is the one I felt had the most meaning and I had the best understanding of. This poems speaks about deeath as if its human, it gives deat human qualities by refering to it as "he."
"Because I could not stop for Death he kindly stopped for me."
I liked how Dickinson described a graveyard and church in stanza 4
"we paused before a house hat seemed, a swelling ot the ground; the roof was scarcely visible, the cornice but a mound"
After defining a few terms I got a (haste, cornice, surmised)better understadning of the poem. However, the last two lines kind of threw me for a loop. What do you all think Dickinson is trying to convey in the last two lines of this poem?
Hi Class- I noticed that a few of you wrote about “Tell all the Truth buy tell it slant.” I think this poem has recently become my favorite of the bunch. I really liked reading Gordon’s social critique of the poem. He said the poem “is quite pertinent to the social situation abounding in the Victorian Age. An age of both masking and deceit...” And he then goes on to compare America’s situation with that of Victorian England, which is due to America’s “masking” techniques during that time period. Also, Christopher and Jason discuss the theme of the poem as dealing with the amount of truth that should be told. Truth should be told in snippets or gradually. All of these comments and last night’s discussion in class led me to think more in depth about this particular poem. One thing that I noticed about this poem was Dickinson’s word usage within the context of the first line. She states, “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant.” The word that caught my attention immediately was all (definition-the whole of). I think it’s interesting that the narrator commands its readers to “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” (l. 1). Dickinson creates a conundrum with this short line: How does one tell all of the truth, but veer away from it at the same time? This in turn relates to the puzzling aspect of life in which one must balance many different aspects of telling the not-so-simple Truth. During class last night, I asked Melody about the tone of the poem. She answered that the tone was ironic. I think Dickinson was trying to relate the ironic nature of truth in her poem. She reveals, “The Truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man be blind” (11. 7-8). I agree with what Melody said: truth is usually something that is liberating but that at times, to tell the whole truth, can be harmful. For example when telling children about the negative aspects of lightening, it is better to discuss it “[w]ith explanation kind” (l. 6). When to disclose what is an art Dickinson is trying to convey! Another question that came up last night was Lauren’s question about this poem acting as social commentary. I was wondering what you thought. Is “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” social commentary? I guess we’ll talk later…For now these are my visual representations of the theme of truth: (Image of Woman Crossing Her Fingers) http://keyholepublishing.com/We%20Hate%20Truth.jpg
(Image of George Bush) http://katspaws.blogs.com/photos/art_everyday_month_ii/truth.jpg
(Image of Lawyers talking business) http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/C-Lawyer-Morally.gif
I think all of these images represent the slant of truth. I understand that Dickinson’s representation of truth might not be so charged, but it is fun to use art to explore other meanings. I feel these images further explore the question regarding social commentary I asked above.
Goodbye for now, Heather
p.s. I tried to use the blogger help and post these images, but I couldn't get it to work. Sorry...
The poem of choice seemed to be “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant”. When I first read this poem, I could understand what Dickinson was trying to say. However, it was the way she was going about it that confused me.
Gordon’s view on the social situation in Victorian England and at the same time in America made a lot of sense to me. Dickinson’s poem of little lies and fibs would parallel the normal, everyday “storytelling” of this ages society.
As Lightening to the Children eased With explanation kind
Gordon also opened my eyes to these two lines. I now understand them to mean that the fib a person tells is understood by the receiver of information like a child understand lighting. Perhaps the full truth behind lighting is extra information a child does not require. Therefore, a small lie told may cover or mask extra truthful information not needed by the receiver of information. I wish I could put this a better way for you guys to read, but I think I understand better now with Gordon’s help.
Jason also states that “lies are often needed in life”. I tend to agree with what he says and I believe that Dickinson does as well. There is a difference though between harmful lies and fibs. Fibs, to me, are used more to protect or safely mask harmful information. A lie can mushroom into a severe scenario. This is why Dickinson says “all the Truth but tell it slant”. Keep your “lie” within the boundaries of the truth.
(small dog, big beach) http://www.playapixie.org/past/photos/beachdog.jpg
These three images represent my feelings from “I STARTED early, took my dog”. I get the sense that the massive ships and approaching tide represent feeling overwhelmed. The ships size is overwhelming compared to Dickinson and her dog (Presuming me to be a mouse Aground, upon the sands). The tide rushing past her “eats her up”. Like I said in my first letter, the tide comes up and then goes down. When its up, you could feel overwhelmed by water if you were in it. When it is down, you can be sitting on dry land and feel content.
Thanks for reading guys. I’m excited to read your responses!
I very much enjoyed all of your responses regarding Dickinson’s poems. It is true, I believe, that “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” is our group’s most discussed poem. However, because I spent a lot of time delving into the aforementioned poem personally, I want to talk about a couple of responses to the other Dickinson poems. I really enjoyed Heather’s response to “There’s a certain slant of light.” I agree that it is often hard not to let personal interpretation intrude on an objective reading, though I also think that a personal reading can illuminate things otherwise shadowed. Your discussion of words such as oppression and affliction when referring to the speaker’s “feeling of powerlessness” helps to illumine the tone of the poem for others who may not have had the same weather experiences. Thus, I appreciate your personal reading because it transformed into a reading that helped me perceive the struggle with “the important questions of life.”
Chris explores “I started early took my dog.” To be honest, this was a poem that I enjoyed but did not completely understand. Thus, I was glad to see that Chris was able to highlight aspects of the poem I did not originally see as particularly significant. For example, his discussion of the frigates was very interesting. He contends, “This could further add to my theory of a bad feeling. These warships and hungry tide are trying to swallow Dickinson but eventually they fade away.” I appreciated his reading of the poem in accordance with the frigates and particularly the manner in which he associates this image with the portentous undertone pervading the poem. Ultimately, and unfortunately, the speaker may indeed “be swallowed up” by the tide.
Moreover, both Jennifer and Shakia’s examination of “Because I could not stop for Death” highlights the function of Death in Dickinson’s poem and her use of personification—i.e. the fact that Death operates as a human “courter” in the poem. Perhaps Dickinson’s most famous poem, “Because I could not stop for Death” is the epitome of “Dickinson social commentary.”
The images I chose are representative of “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant.” Because I really enjoyed Heather’s exploration of exactly what constitutes “all the Truth,” and because it is interesting that Dickinson writes “Tell all the Truth” instead of simply writing “Tell the Truth,” these images signify the varying degrees of “Truth” in our contemporary world. The word “Truth” is often used when referencing religious absolutisms, and as such, the images I have chosen are representative of the six major world religions: Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, and Judaism, respectively. One man’s “Truth” is merely a fraction of “all the Truth,” and I thought it worthwhile to illustrate this:
I really enjoyed reading all of your responses to Dickinson’s poetry. I definitely have a better understanding of her poems. The first letter that I want to respond to is Shakia’s Letter #1 at Clemson. I agree with Shakia that “Because I could not stop for death” is a poem that has a very universal meaning, and like Shakia said, it is a poem that I also have “the best understanding of.” I definitely think that Dickinson is presenting death as human by personifying it as a suitor. Death is someone who comes to her door and takes her on a date with eternity. Brett mentioned in class that he thought the poem carried a disappointing tone, and I agree. I think that the speaker, and Dickinson herself, was disappointed with love and with life to an extent. I feel really dumb for not picking up on the grave imagery. I should have known the mound was her gravesite. About the last lines, Shakia, I think that she is saying that the day she found out she was going to die was the longest day of her life and that each year in eternity feels shorter than that day—again, that’s going back to whether or not your believe the poem carries a tone of disappointment. The second letter I would like to respond to is Letter #1 from Chris R. at Chalmers. Chris states that he is “puzzled” by “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant,” and I agree. When I first read the poem, I thought she was saying that you have to lead people into the truth instead of being brutally honest. Like Chris says, “you must tell little lies to prevent some bad feelings.” I’m not sure, though. I think the bigger question is what Truth? A spiritual truth perhaps? What do you guys think?
(Because I could not stop for Death) http://www.entry-magazin.de/Images/death003.jpg
(Tell all the truth but tell it slant) http://hackvan.com/pub/stig/pix/subversive/tell-all-the-TRUTH-but-tell-it-SLANT.jpg
(Tell all the truth but tell it slant) http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/filmnotes/images/triumph4.jpg
These three images help me understand the poem in a different way. The first is how I imagine the speaker in her grave, distraught and disappointed. The second is a neat image that I came upon describing how to think about the slant truth. It is a personal poem that can really hit home with younger readers. The last is a photo of Hitler. I chose that one because I feel like, as Americans, we were lied to about the Holocaust and the extent of the involvement with the Holocaust. I also think that Hitler lied (and brainwashed) a lot of people by telling his own truth.
Hello Group, I enjoyed reading all of your first letters and I was quite intrigued by the different approaches that everyone took to analyze the poetry. As I mentioned in my first letter, my favorite poem of the five listed Emily Dickenson poems was “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—.” Many of you also wrote about this poem. Gordon provided a unique and interesting perspective that caused me to think about the poem in a different manner. In talking about the Victorian Age, Gordon mentions, “An age of both masking and deceit, the late-19th century and all of its social upheaval resulted in a situation where ‘bending the truth’ was almost as second-nature as using the small fork to eat the salad.” I have not greatly studied the Victorian Age, and this insight helps me understand the overall attitude of the poem. Christopher R. took a different approach and analyzed several of the poems rather than just one. This helped my understanding because it gives a unique perspective about poems I am not as familiar with. I decided to concentrate on “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—” and decided to analyze the other poems in less detail. I read the other poems mostly for enjoyment, and another person’s thoughts and analysis helps in my own understanding of these poems. I particularly liked when Christopher stated, “I imagined huge ships out at sea looking down upon her like she was a mouse on the sand. The she talks about the tide and how it slowly gets higher and passes her shoes and clothing. This tide could be a person or another feeling that Dickinson is battling within herself” when discussing the fifth poem, “I Started early took my dog.” This really paints a picture that I did not see myself. I found an image of a stork (http://www.wpclipart.com/medical/stork.png) to represent “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—.” This enhances my understanding because the stork is a slanted truth used in today’s society.
By reading the perspectives of my peers on Dickinson’s poems, I gained a much better understanding of her writing style, and what were her poems were trying to convey to readers. Getting different viewpoints on the poems provided me with a little more insight. Jennifer’s analysis of “BECAUSE I could not stop for Death” was much more in depth than mine. I apologize for my mechanical errors, but I had difficulties with the blog. But I totally agree and understand Jennifer’s perspective. I found Jennifer’s analysis of “BECAUSE I could not stop for Death” very interesting. I really like how she analyzed the capitalization of certain words in this particular poem. I wasn’t sure about the last two lines of stanza four, but I believe the first two lines when the speaker says “paused before a house”, the speaker was referring to a church with a cemetery. I could be wrong, but that was my interpretation of the first two lines. They arrived at a church with a cemetery and graves. Jennifer’s concept of death leaving her at the door, is another good perspective. I didn’t even think about it that way. That is what I like about poems, they can be interpreted in many different ways from many different perspectives Gordon gave a great historical background of the Victorian period on his analysis on Dickinson’s “Tell all the truth but don’t slant.” I felt like I a mini history lesson reading Gordon’s analysis of this particular poem. I also found it interesting how he related the poem to a church hymn, and the point he made about the poem speaking about un-truthfulness, but it is written in church hymn form. I believe that is a great contridiction. Gordon thanks for your great analysis of this poem, it really helped me understand this particular poem. My graphic is another poem of Dickinson’s that I enjoyed. If you go to www.emilydickinson.org/safe/ff.html you will be able to access it and tell we what you think?
Hi Class- After reading everyone’s entries, I really wanted to talk about “Because I could not stop for Death.” I liked Shakia’s discussion of Jennifer’s analysis of this poem, and I would like to elaborate on both of their comments. To be honest, I have tried to avoid this particular Dickinson poem because I wasn’t that interested in it; I had contempt prior to investigation. But now I’ll try and go for it. The first line of the poem is analyzed interestingly by Jennifer. Regarding the first line of the poem she states: “Because I could not sop for Death,” that “the speaker feels that the day she realized she was going to die was the longest day of her life, and it felt even longer than the centuries she has spent in eternity.” She emphasizes that life was more of a burden for the speaker than eternity (death). Time is passing quickly: “We passed the school,” We passed the fields,” and “We passed the setting sun” (ll. 9, 11-12). So much is passing by-it seems that life is passing by too fast. Then, with an abrupt stop: We paused before a house that seemed A swelling of the ground; The roof was scarcely visible, The cornice but a mound. (13-16) I agree with the others that this “mound” represents the cessation of her life as she knew it. Those lines remind me of The Odyssey when Odysseus gets stuck on Circe’s island for five years; he only feels like it’s been five days. Dickinson uses time in this poem extremely creatively. At the end of her first blog entry, Shakia asks: “What do you all think Dickinson is trying to convey in the last two lines of this poem?” And I didn’t really see anyone address this question. In the last two lines, Dickinson states: “I first surmised the horses’ heads / Were toward eternity” (19-20). I’m really fascinated by those lines, especially the idea of the horses leaning to eternity. Did the speaker just figure this out? Is this section supposed to help the reader discover the permanence of the speaker’s trip/destination? The image created is so dramatic that I think there are several possible meanings hidden within the text. Gordon’s ideas about truth caught my attention, so I decided to check out his images. Specifically, I liked the Sikh image of truth: . This image shows a man sitting between two waterfalls: one on either side. A tree shades him. There’s a glowing light around his head and he looks comfortable. I was surprised that the image was that of a man; I guess this person is a holy man of some sort. I would seek truth from him. I just wanted to thank everyone. I know I didn’t get to engage all of my group members directly, but I did appreciate and learn from everyone. I really wanted to get in on the discussion that Chris and Jason were having about “I STARTED early,” but I ran out of both time and room. Maybe next time…
I enjoyed reading all the second entries. The second entries provided even more insight to Dickinson’s poems. Jennifer mentioned “feeling dumb” for not picking up the grave imagery, and I feel the same way. The grave imagery and sad tone are key characteristics to this poem. I agree with Jennifer, because just like Brett picked up, it should’ve been one of the first components of the poem we should’ve picked up on. We should’ve picked this up because when analyzing a poem the tone and imagery is very important in understanding the poem. Jennifer and Heather addressed the question I asked in my letter two concerning the last two lines of stanza four. And I agree with both responses. Jennifer stated that ‘the day she found out she was going to die was the longest day of her life and that each year in eternity feels shorter than that day’, and I understand her perspective. Heather goes on to say that she thinks that the lines can have several different meanings. I agree with her that the last two lines have a very dramatic tone that can be interpreted many different ways. Heather then asks the question “is this section supposed to help the reader discover the permanence of the speaker’s trip/destination.’ I can’t really answer this question, but I think that is an interesting observation that I didn’t pick up on. Gordon stated that he believed “Because I could not stop for Death” is the epitome of “Dickinson social commentary”, and I can definitely agree with that. Thanks to everyone for helping me understand the poem I choose to discuss, and the others. Have a great weekend
I really want to thank all of you for you unique and valuable insights. I believe I have gained a lot from reading all of your responses, and, if at the very least, appreciate Dickinson on a level I do not think I could have gotten to on my own.
With regard to “Tell all the Truth,” I found Chris’s explanation of the lightning lines interesting. I had not thought about the fact that “Perhaps the full truth behind lighting is extra information a child does not require.” This perspective on Dickinson’s employment of said lines adds another layer to this poem. Perhaps the “slanted truth” is never fully explicated to any individual. We may be a bit disappointed, then, to realize that “all the truth” is an ultimately unattainable quest. Chris you may have hit the nail on the head when you state, “a small lie told may cover or mask extra truthful information not needed by the receiver of information.” Jason further explores this poem with his image. Initially, when reading Dickinson’s poem, the “slanted truth” I took to be an altered truth between adults. Thus, when I first looked up Jason’s image of the stork, I wondered how that coincided with Dickinson’s poems. After mulling it over, though, I really enjoyed his interpretation of the poem via the image. The figure of the stork, for American society at least, is a mythological representation of birth: as legend has it, parents tell their young children about the stork in order to “explain” to the children how they came to live under their parents’ roof. Of course, we all know this to be false. Jason’s incorporation of this image with regards to Dickinson’s poem, then, can serve as an example of an established “slanted truth”: one employed and accepted by our society in order to try and explain something that seems otherwise unexplainable to children. So, after being a bit long-winded, thanks Jason for that interesting perspective. In keeping with this discussion of “Tell all the Truth,” Heather mentioned something that happened in our class: “I asked Melody about the tone of the poem. She answered that the tone was ironic. I think Dickinson was trying to relate the ironic nature of truth in her poem.” I certainly agree with this. How could Dickinson’s poem not be ironic if she wants “all the Truth” but in a manner that is “slanted”—once again, thanks Heather for this insight. It seems we all had quite a bit to say about this poem. The question was asked whether or not “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” has elements of social commentary. I certainly believe that it does and evidence this position by all of our discussion/examination.
As to another Dickinson poem, Jennifer’s unrelenting analysis of “Because I could not stop for Death” has given me much to think about. Because this is Dickinson’s most famous poem, and because I have a tendency to brush over poems receiving a lot of critical acclaim, Jennifer (and Shakia) allowed me to think about this poem critically, something I probably would not have done on my own. I particularly enjoyed Jennifer’s contention that that day was perhaps “the longest day of her life.” This is certainly true; for, it would be hard to think eternity would be short-lived.
All of your multi-modal incorporations were interesting and enlightening. One that caught my eye in particular, though, was Jennifer’s image of Hitler. It was interesting to me on two levels: one, because she incorporated it in accordance with “Tell all the Truth”; and two, simply because I did not expect that at all. I must be honest in saying that I did not originally see how Hitler could fit with “Tell all the Truth”; however, after reading Jennifer’s explanation, I like that she blatantly indicates Hitler told “his own truth.” Because of this, I do think this image can fit with Dickinson’s poem, since it yet again reaffirms the notion that “Truth” is pretty subjective.
Thank you again for all of your responses and I wish you the best of luck in your studies, Gordon
I apologize for my late entry. I was travelling in Denmark with my family and had no access to a computer. Oh well, better late than never!
I feel like every time I read the new blog entries, I gain more understanding to Dickinson’s poems. After reading Jason’s entry and looking at the stork image, I was very happy to see how much the stork idea paralleled the lightning idea. However, the stork idea is much easier to understand because everyone is familiar with it. Parents tell their children a stork brings new babies to families. This is a fib in order to delay the conversation on intercourse and sex organs. I imagine a conversation involving those two things would confuse a child quite a bit! Again, this lie doesn’t hurt the child. It gives them an understandable answer to a question they formulated.
I was alarmed to see that when asked to find an image of telling the slanted truth, two of our group members, Jennifer and Heather, went to political figures. I find another parallel here. Are political leaders the adults and the population the represent the children? Do political leaders need to tell fibs in order to mask a harmful truth? I do not want to turn this into a political debate, but it occurred to me that perhaps this adult/child fib telling scenario can be found in other situations.
It was nice discussing poetry with you all. I honestly didn’t think I could contribute anything to the conversation, but it seems as though you all helped me understand the poems better and therefore allowed me to put my two cents in. Thanks and have a good semester!
16 comments:
Dear Group 2,
Good day to all. My name is Gordon, and I am taking Victorian Poetry at Clemson University under the direction of Dr. Art Young. While I much enjoy poetry, my field of focus is early-American literature (17th and 18th century) with a touch of Transatlantic studies. My background in poetry is not substantial, nor would I consider it utterly shallow. I guess I fall somewhere in the middle. Thus, I look forward to reading all of your insights in hopes that some of you with more experience may enlighten my reading(s) of Emily Dickinson.
Emily Dickinson’s “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” is quite pertinent to the social situation abounding in the Victorian Age. An age of both masking and deceit, the late-19th century and all of its social upheaval resulted in a situation where “bending the truth” was almost as second-nature as using the small fork to eat the salad. Though Dickinson did indeed live in America, the social circumstances in America during the mid to late-19th century mirrored the social circumstances of Victorian England. While I recognize that deeming this American epoch “Victorian” is a bit of a misnomer, simply because Queen Victoria is not Queen of America, the term “Victorian” is an adequate generalization when referring to the social ideals of America during the mid to late-19th century. In her poem Dickinson compares the outpouring of truthful statements to a child’s first encounter with lightning—one, she contends, must be “eased / With explanation kind” (ll. 5-6). Ironically, lightning is a natural phenomenon—or, as was often the case in an epoch where a grounded belief in spirituality tended to supplant scientific explanation, a spiritual phenomenon. Thus, with such a comparison Dickinson transcends “truth” beyond human comprehension—itself becoming the phenomenon of truth—and ultimately renders “un-slanted” truth unattainable, in understanding and deliverance. Truth is quite simply “Too bright for our infirm Delight” (l. 3). Her use of the word “Delight” implies that she wishes this word to be read with its archaic meaning—“the power of affording pleasure” (Webster Online). Thus, Dickinson evidences her position that “slant truth” is the only means of “stability” in her contemporary society—lest all should suddenly seek displeasure. Dickinson further notes that “our…Delight” has been reduced to infirmity—“of poor or deteriorated vitality, weak of mind” (Webster Online)—and as such, society, she asserts, is unable to handle “Truth’s superb surprise” (l. 4).
Contrary to a deluge of truth, “The Truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man be blind” (ll. 7-8). Dickinson is not contending that people lie, but merely that individuals alter the truthfulness of their statements—they must only fib; for, such small doses of truth will maintain the proper balance, and no individual will be propelled into a self revelation that is unpleasant. Likewise, the mask veiling the “true” nature of society will never be fully exposed.
Moreover, “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” resembles a church hymn in composition. It is ironic, then, that Dickinson chooses to compose a poem preaching the necessity of “un-truthfulness” in “contemporary” society in such a mode.
Fondly,
Gordon
Hello Group Two,
My name is Christopher R. I am an exchange student from America taking Fiction for Engineers at Chalmers University of Technology in Goteborg, Sweden. I am originally from Wisconsin and I go to the University of Minnesota. I rarely read poetry and therefore my background with it is fairly sparse.
I think that in the first poem, the liquor that Dickinson is talking about is a feeling. The liquor never tasted is a feeling never felt. She speaks of being inebriated and I think that means that she is “drunk” with this feeling. I would assume this to be happiness but it really could be any feeling. She says “Till seraphs swing their snowy hats”, maybe this implies that this feeling is seasonal because she also speaks of endless summer days. I am interested to see what you guys think of this poem.
The fourth poem about truth somewhat puzzles me. I think that what she is trying to say is that sometimes the truth can be harmful and that in order to keep some people content, you must tell little lies to prevent some bad feelings. She says the truth must dazzle gradually. Perhaps this means that at first you should tell what the person wants to hear, and then slowly bring them in on the thing that they did not want to hear. I am puzzled.
I liked the fifth poem about the sea. She takes her dog to the beach and sits down. Then she talks about frigates in the upper floor. I imagined huge ships out at sea looking down upon her like she was a mouse on the sand. The she talks about the tide and how it slowly gets higher and passes her shoes and clothing. This tide could be a person or another feeling that Dickinson is battling within herself. It seems as though she will be swallowed by this “tide” but in the end it withdraws. The tide rising and falling could resemble any time in a humans life. It seems like the end of the world and that you will be swallowed up. But eventually, the tide will go down and you will feel better about something that you used to feel awful about.
Frigate - a modern warship that is smaller than a destroyer
I did not know that a frigate implied a warship or a battleship. This could further add to my theory of a bad feeling. These warships and hungry tide are trying to swallow Dickinson but eventually they fade away.
I am very interested in everyone’s letters.
Christopher R
Dear Fellow Classmates,
Hi! My name is Heather, and I am currently taking Victorian Poetry with Dr. Young at Clemson University. I am originally from a small town in Michigan and have since moved to South Carolina. Anyway-I am looking forward to working with all of you. I am listed as a member of Group #2, but I would appreciate feedback from any members of the blog. Victorian poetry is not necessarily my strong point; however, I will try to explain my ideas thoughtfully.
In Emily Dickinson’s “There’s a certain slant of light,” a shift in weather or in personal beliefs changes the narrator internally. Emotionally, the speaker reflects sadness with the long winter day. She states:
Heavenly hurt it gives us;
We can find no scar,
But internal difference
Where the meanings are. (ll. 5-8)
Pensive images of winter go through my mind when I read this stanza. In these moments, on a cold winter day, time stops; and one is permitted to reflect on the meaning of life. Is life futile? Are we insignificant? Will there be a break in the weather and in the oppression? With this questioning, comes a feeling of powerlessness for the speaker. The moment and feeling is overwhelming and “[n]one may teach it anything” (l. 9). Sadness is reflected and even “the landscape listens” (l. 13). Images of change and oppression abound in this poem.
Dickinson’s word choice helps to embody her theme of change (seasonal and/or personal). She uses words like oppresses, despair and affliction to further establish a depressing atmosphere (ll. 3, 10, 11). I looked up a few words in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary to understand Dickinson’s use of these words more thoroughly. Oppression is defined as: “a sense of being weighed down in body or mind.” Affliction is defined as “great suffering.” I am wondering if Dickinson is describing the pain one goes through while processing ideas and beliefs? Change usually brings an upheaval of some sort…
Finally, with the release of or acceptance of this change, relief comes: “When it goes, ’t is like the distance / On the look of death” (ll. 15-16). From far away, the significance of the feelings still lingers because she sees death in the image.
On a beautiful spring day in South Carolina, it is easy for me to remember my cold past in Michigan and interpret this poem through those eyes; however, I am also reminded of the fear change brings. Metaphorically speaking, “There’s a certain slant of light” brings to mind images one feels while struggling with the important questions of life. I am interested in what you think.
Nice to meet you,
Heather M.
Hello Group,
My name is Jennifer, and I am currently taking Victorian Poetry with Dr. Art Young at Clemson University. I am from Enoree, SC, a very small town in Spartanburg County. The only other class of poetry that I have taken is Modern American Poetry, which I tend to like more than Victorian; however, being in Dr. Young’s class has really opened my eyes about the Victorian Age. I love poetry, and I write some now and then, but my main focus (or what I would like it to be) is women writers and southern literature. I look forward to reading your letters and understanding Emily Dickinson all over again.
The general meaning of “BECAUSE I could not stop for Death” seems to be that the speaker feels that the day she realized she was going to die was the longest day of her life, and it felt even longer than the centuries she has spent in eternity. That in itself is an interesting thought because one would think that eternity would feel like a burden, but for the speaker life was a burden.
The first critical aspect of the poem is the capitalization of “BECAUSE” (1). The capitalization sets the poem up like a cause-and-effect scenario. Because she was so busy in life, death just came and took her. “Death” and “Immortality” are also capitalized but only in the first letter of each word (1, 4). These three words are the most important of the poem as they provide the basis of the plot—reason, result, and effect.
In the second stanza, Dickinson does not say we drove slowly but “we slowly drove” (5). The order of the phrase is important because the way Dickinson orders the phrase slows down the pace of the line, even into the next phrase “he knew no haste” (5). The slowing down of the poem reiterates the last stanza where she says that the day she died was longer than the days in eternity.
The speaker mentions that she “had put away/my labor, and my leisure too” (6-7). I believe that her labor is her womanly duties or the labor around the house, and her leisure is her writing. What do you guys think? Also, in stanza four, the speaker says that they “paused before a house,” and in the next stanza she says “Since then” (13, 17). Are we to assume that death left her at that house? I’m not sure about that stanza.
Cornice from dictionary.com:
Architecture.
a. any prominent, continuous, horizontally projecting feature surmounting a wall or other construction, or dividing it horizontally for compositional purposes.
This definition shows that the house death pulls up to is hidden so much that the top of the house cannot even be seen. Can we assume this structure could be a church?
That’s all for now,
Jennifer J.
Dear Group,
My name is Jason C. and I am currently taking English 214: American Literature at Clemson University. As a sophomore, I have had some experience with poetry and I am quite familiar with Emily Dickenson poems from the AP English courses I took in high school.
From the five selected Dickenson poems, my favorite is “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—.” Dickenson conveys a deep meaning that suggests lying is almost a necessity in life. I am most intrigued when the speaker states, “The truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man be blind—.” (Lines 7-8). Though I am not completely certain about what Dickenson means by this, I feel that the message she is trying to convey is that stretching the truth opens peoples’ eyes and that lies are often needed in life.
I was rather confused when the speaker states, “As Lightening to the Children eased.” (Line 5). Does anyone know what this means? From previous Dickenson poems and poetry in general, I assume this is a metaphor. In all likelihood, it is a metaphor for lies and how they can sometimes help in life. According to Webster, “lightning” means very fast or a flash of electricity in the sky, and “ease” means absence of difficulty. By choosing these words, I feel that Dickenson conveys that lying to children makes is a fast and easy alternative to telling them the truth. What do you guys think?
Sincerely,
Jason C.
Dear Group 2
Hello everyone! My name is Shakia. I'm senior at Clemson University currently enrolled in Dr. Reiss's American Literature class. I'm a senior majoring in sociology with a minor in pan african studies. It's been a while since I've had a English class, so I'm not really familiar with Dickinson's poems.
Emily Dickison's "-because i could not stop for Death,"is my favorite of the five poems selected. This is the one I felt had the most meaning and I had the best understanding of. This poems speaks about deeath as if its human, it gives deat human qualities by refering to it as "he."
"Because I could not stop for Death
he kindly stopped for me."
I liked how Dickinson described a graveyard and church in stanza 4
"we paused before a house hat seemed, a swelling ot the ground; the roof was scarcely visible, the cornice but a mound"
After defining a few terms I got a (haste, cornice, surmised)better understadning of the poem. However, the last two lines kind of threw me for a loop. What do you all think Dickinson is trying to convey in the last two lines of this poem?
Thanks,
Shakia
Hi Class-
I noticed that a few of you wrote about “Tell all the Truth buy tell it slant.” I think this poem has recently become my favorite of the bunch. I really liked reading Gordon’s social critique of the poem. He said the poem “is quite pertinent to the social situation abounding in the Victorian Age. An age of both masking and deceit...” And he then goes on to compare America’s situation with that of Victorian England, which is due to America’s “masking” techniques during that time period. Also, Christopher and Jason discuss the theme of the poem as dealing with the amount of truth that should be told. Truth should be told in snippets or gradually. All of these comments and last night’s discussion in class led me to think more in depth about this particular poem.
One thing that I noticed about this poem was Dickinson’s word usage within the context of the first line. She states, “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant.” The word that caught my attention immediately was all (definition-the whole of). I think it’s interesting that the narrator commands its readers to “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” (l. 1). Dickinson creates a conundrum with this short line: How does one tell all of the truth, but veer away from it at the same time? This in turn relates to the puzzling aspect of life in which one must balance many different aspects of telling the not-so-simple Truth.
During class last night, I asked Melody about the tone of the poem. She answered that the tone was ironic. I think Dickinson was trying to relate the ironic nature of truth in her poem. She reveals, “The Truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man be blind” (11. 7-8). I agree with what Melody said: truth is usually something that is liberating but that at times, to tell the whole truth, can be harmful. For example when telling children about the negative aspects of lightening, it is better to discuss it “[w]ith explanation kind” (l. 6). When to disclose what is an art Dickinson is trying to convey!
Another question that came up last night was Lauren’s question about this poem acting as social commentary. I was wondering what you thought. Is “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” social commentary? I guess we’ll talk later…For now these are my visual representations of the theme of truth:
(Image of Woman Crossing Her Fingers)
http://keyholepublishing.com/We%20Hate%20Truth.jpg
(Image of George Bush)
http://katspaws.blogs.com/photos/art_everyday_month_ii/truth.jpg
(Image of Lawyers talking business)
http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/C-Lawyer-Morally.gif
I think all of these images represent the slant of truth. I understand that Dickinson’s representation of truth might not be so charged, but it is fun to use art to explore other meanings. I feel these images further explore the question regarding social commentary I asked above.
Goodbye for now, Heather
p.s. I tried to use the blogger help and post these images, but I couldn't get it to work. Sorry...
Hello Group 2-
The poem of choice seemed to be “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant”. When I first read this poem, I could understand what Dickinson was trying to say. However, it was the way she was going about it that confused me.
Gordon’s view on the social situation in Victorian England and at the same time in America made a lot of sense to me. Dickinson’s poem of little lies and fibs would parallel the normal, everyday “storytelling” of this ages society.
As Lightening to the Children eased
With explanation kind
Gordon also opened my eyes to these two lines. I now understand them to mean that the fib a person tells is understood by the receiver of information like a child understand lighting. Perhaps the full truth behind lighting is extra information a child does not require. Therefore, a small lie told may cover or mask extra truthful information not needed by the receiver of information. I wish I could put this a better way for you guys to read, but I think I understand better now with Gordon’s help.
Jason also states that “lies are often needed in life”. I tend to agree with what he says and I believe that Dickinson does as well. There is a difference though between harmful lies and fibs. Fibs, to me, are used more to protect or safely mask harmful information. A lie can mushroom into a severe scenario. This is why Dickinson says “all the Truth but tell it slant”. Keep your “lie” within the boundaries of the truth.
(overwhelmed)
http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/mly0389l.jpg
(massive frigate)
http://infomotions.com/musings/lita-2003/fullsize/battleship.jpg
(small dog, big beach)
http://www.playapixie.org/past/photos/beachdog.jpg
These three images represent my feelings from “I STARTED early, took my dog”. I get the sense that the massive ships and approaching tide represent feeling overwhelmed. The ships size is overwhelming compared to Dickinson and her dog (Presuming me to be a mouse Aground, upon the sands). The tide rushing past her “eats her up”. Like I said in my first letter, the tide comes up and then goes down. When its up, you could feel overwhelmed by water if you were in it. When it is down, you can be sitting on dry land and feel content.
Thanks for reading guys. I’m excited to read your responses!
Chris R, Fiction, Chalmers
Hello to all again,
I very much enjoyed all of your responses regarding Dickinson’s poems. It is true, I believe, that “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” is our group’s most discussed poem. However, because I spent a lot of time delving into the aforementioned poem personally, I want to talk about a couple of responses to the other Dickinson poems. I really enjoyed Heather’s response to “There’s a certain slant of light.” I agree that it is often hard not to let personal interpretation intrude on an objective reading, though I also think that a personal reading can illuminate things otherwise shadowed. Your discussion of words such as oppression and affliction when referring to the speaker’s “feeling of powerlessness” helps to illumine the tone of the poem for others who may not have had the same weather experiences. Thus, I appreciate your personal reading because it transformed into a reading that helped me perceive the struggle with “the important questions of life.”
Chris explores “I started early took my dog.” To be honest, this was a poem that I enjoyed but did not completely understand. Thus, I was glad to see that Chris was able to highlight aspects of the poem I did not originally see as particularly significant. For example, his discussion of the frigates was very interesting. He contends, “This could further add to my theory of a bad feeling. These warships and hungry tide are trying to swallow Dickinson but eventually they fade away.” I appreciated his reading of the poem in accordance with the frigates and particularly the manner in which he associates this image with the portentous undertone pervading the poem. Ultimately, and unfortunately, the speaker may indeed “be swallowed up” by the tide.
Moreover, both Jennifer and Shakia’s examination of “Because I could not stop for Death” highlights the function of Death in Dickinson’s poem and her use of personification—i.e. the fact that Death operates as a human “courter” in the poem. Perhaps Dickinson’s most famous poem, “Because I could not stop for Death” is the epitome of “Dickinson social commentary.”
The images I chose are representative of “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant.” Because I really enjoyed Heather’s exploration of exactly what constitutes “all the Truth,” and because it is interesting that Dickinson writes “Tell all the Truth” instead of simply writing “Tell the Truth,” these images signify the varying degrees of “Truth” in our contemporary world. The word “Truth” is often used when referencing religious absolutisms, and as such, the images I have chosen are representative of the six major world religions: Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, and Judaism, respectively. One man’s “Truth” is merely a fraction of “all the Truth,” and I thought it worthwhile to illustrate this:
http://eis.bris.ac.uk/~cckhrb/romania/icon.jpg
http://www.rivercitystatuary.com/photogallery/O005%20Buddha%20w%20Beads%20Jade.JPG
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/religion/hinduism/gsaraswt.jpg
http://www.shsu.edu/~gel_geo/geography/pics/islam.jpg
http://www.religionfacts.com/sikhism/images/guru-nanak-yellow.jpg
http://www.erbzine.com/mag13/judaism.jpg
Hope everyone has a good day/week,
Gordon
Hello Group,
I really enjoyed reading all of your responses to Dickinson’s poetry. I definitely have a better understanding of her poems. The first letter that I want to respond to is Shakia’s Letter #1 at Clemson. I agree with Shakia that “Because I could not stop for death” is a poem that has a very universal meaning, and like Shakia said, it is a poem that I also have “the best understanding of.” I definitely think that Dickinson is presenting death as human by personifying it as a suitor. Death is someone who comes to her door and takes her on a date with eternity. Brett mentioned in class that he thought the poem carried a disappointing tone, and I agree. I think that the speaker, and Dickinson herself, was disappointed with love and with life to an extent. I feel really dumb for not picking up on the grave imagery. I should have known the mound was her gravesite. About the last lines, Shakia, I think that she is saying that the day she found out she was going to die was the longest day of her life and that each year in eternity feels shorter than that day—again, that’s going back to whether or not your believe the poem carries a tone of disappointment.
The second letter I would like to respond to is Letter #1 from Chris R. at Chalmers. Chris states that he is “puzzled” by “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant,” and I agree. When I first read the poem, I thought she was saying that you have to lead people into the truth instead of being brutally honest. Like Chris says, “you must tell little lies to prevent some bad feelings.” I’m not sure, though. I think the bigger question is what Truth? A spiritual truth perhaps? What do you guys think?
(Because I could not stop for Death)
http://www.entry-magazin.de/Images/death003.jpg
(Tell all the truth but tell it slant)
http://hackvan.com/pub/stig/pix/subversive/tell-all-the-TRUTH-but-tell-it-SLANT.jpg
(Tell all the truth but tell it slant)
http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/filmnotes/images/triumph4.jpg
These three images help me understand the poem in a different way. The first is how I imagine the speaker in her grave, distraught and disappointed. The second is a neat image that I came upon describing how to think about the slant truth. It is a personal poem that can really hit home with younger readers. The last is a photo of Hitler. I chose that one because I feel like, as Americans, we were lied to about the Holocaust and the extent of the involvement with the Holocaust. I also think that Hitler lied (and brainwashed) a lot of people by telling his own truth.
Have a great day!
Jennifer J.
Hello Group,
I enjoyed reading all of your first letters and I was quite intrigued by the different approaches that everyone took to analyze the poetry. As I mentioned in my first letter, my favorite poem of the five listed Emily Dickenson poems was “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—.” Many of you also wrote about this poem. Gordon provided a unique and interesting perspective that caused me to think about the poem in a different manner. In talking about the Victorian Age, Gordon mentions, “An age of both masking and deceit, the late-19th century and all of its social upheaval resulted in a situation where ‘bending the truth’ was almost as second-nature as using the small fork to eat the salad.” I have not greatly studied the Victorian Age, and this insight helps me understand the overall attitude of the poem.
Christopher R. took a different approach and analyzed several of the poems rather than just one. This helped my understanding because it gives a unique perspective about poems I am not as familiar with. I decided to concentrate on “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—” and decided to analyze the other poems in less detail. I read the other poems mostly for enjoyment, and another person’s thoughts and analysis helps in my own understanding of these poems. I particularly liked when Christopher stated, “I imagined huge ships out at sea looking down upon her like she was a mouse on the sand. The she talks about the tide and how it slowly gets higher and passes her shoes and clothing. This tide could be a person or another feeling that Dickinson is battling within herself” when discussing the fifth poem, “I Started early took my dog.” This really paints a picture that I did not see myself.
I found an image of a stork (http://www.wpclipart.com/medical/stork.png) to represent “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—.” This enhances my understanding because the stork is a slanted truth used in today’s society.
Sincerely,
Jason C.
Dear Group,
By reading the perspectives of my peers on Dickinson’s poems, I gained a much better understanding of her writing style, and what were her poems were trying to convey to readers. Getting different viewpoints on the poems provided me with a little more insight. Jennifer’s analysis of “BECAUSE I could not stop for Death” was much more in depth than mine. I apologize for my mechanical errors, but I had difficulties with the blog. But I totally agree and understand Jennifer’s perspective. I found Jennifer’s analysis of “BECAUSE I could not stop for Death” very interesting. I really like how she analyzed the capitalization of certain words in this particular poem.
I wasn’t sure about the last two lines of stanza four, but I believe the first two lines when the speaker says “paused before a house”, the speaker was referring to a church with a cemetery. I could be wrong, but that was my interpretation of the first two
lines. They arrived at a church with a cemetery and graves. Jennifer’s concept of death leaving her at the door, is another good perspective. I didn’t even think about it that way. That is what I like about poems, they can be interpreted in many different ways from many different perspectives
Gordon gave a great historical background of the Victorian period on his analysis on Dickinson’s “Tell all the truth but don’t slant.” I felt like I a mini history lesson reading Gordon’s analysis of this particular poem. I also found it interesting how he related the poem to a church hymn, and the point he made about the poem speaking about un-truthfulness, but it is written in church hymn form. I believe that is a great contridiction. Gordon thanks for your great analysis of this poem, it really helped me understand this particular poem.
My graphic is another poem of Dickinson’s that I enjoyed. If you go to www.emilydickinson.org/safe/ff.html you will be able to access it and tell we what you think?
Thanks,
Shakia
Hi Class-
After reading everyone’s entries, I really wanted to talk about “Because I could not stop for Death.” I liked Shakia’s discussion of Jennifer’s analysis of this poem, and I would like to elaborate on both of their comments. To be honest, I have tried to avoid this particular Dickinson poem because I wasn’t that interested in it; I had contempt prior to investigation. But now I’ll try and go for it.
The first line of the poem is analyzed interestingly by Jennifer. Regarding the first line of the poem she states: “Because I could not sop for Death,” that “the speaker feels that the day she realized she was going to die was the longest day of her life, and it felt even longer than the centuries she has spent in eternity.” She emphasizes that life was more of a burden for the speaker than eternity (death). Time is passing quickly: “We passed the school,” We passed the fields,” and “We passed the setting sun” (ll. 9, 11-12). So much is passing by-it seems that life is passing by too fast. Then, with an abrupt stop:
We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound. (13-16)
I agree with the others that this “mound” represents the cessation of her life as she knew it. Those lines remind me of The Odyssey when Odysseus gets stuck on Circe’s island for five years; he only feels like it’s been five days. Dickinson uses time in this poem extremely creatively.
At the end of her first blog entry, Shakia asks: “What do you all think Dickinson is trying to convey in the last two lines of this poem?” And I didn’t really see anyone address this question. In the last two lines, Dickinson states: “I first surmised the horses’ heads / Were toward eternity” (19-20). I’m really fascinated by those lines, especially the idea of the horses leaning to eternity. Did the speaker just figure this out? Is this section supposed to help the reader discover the permanence of the speaker’s trip/destination? The image created is so dramatic that I think there are several possible meanings hidden within the text.
Gordon’s ideas about truth caught my attention, so I decided to check out his images. Specifically, I liked the Sikh image of truth: .
This image shows a man sitting between two waterfalls: one on either side. A tree shades him. There’s a glowing light around his head and he looks comfortable. I was surprised that the image was that of a man; I guess this person is a holy man of some sort. I would seek truth from him.
I just wanted to thank everyone. I know I didn’t get to engage all of my group members directly, but I did appreciate and learn from everyone. I really wanted to get in on the discussion that Chris and Jason were having about “I STARTED early,” but I ran out of both time and room. Maybe next time…
I hope you all have a nice weekend!
Bye, Heather M.
Hello everyone,
I enjoyed reading all the second entries. The second entries provided even more insight to Dickinson’s poems. Jennifer mentioned “feeling dumb” for not picking up the grave imagery, and I feel the same way. The grave imagery and sad tone are key characteristics to this poem. I agree with Jennifer, because just like Brett picked up, it should’ve been one of the first components of the poem we should’ve picked up on. We should’ve picked this up because when analyzing a poem the tone and imagery is very important in understanding the poem. Jennifer and Heather addressed the question I asked in my letter two concerning the last two lines of stanza four. And I agree with both responses. Jennifer stated that ‘the day she found out she was going to die was the longest day of her life and that each year in eternity feels shorter than that day’, and I understand her perspective.
Heather goes on to say that she thinks that the lines can have several different meanings. I agree with her that the last two lines have a very dramatic tone that can be interpreted many different ways. Heather then asks the question “is this section supposed to help the reader discover the permanence of the speaker’s trip/destination.’ I can’t really answer this question, but I think that is an interesting observation that I didn’t pick up on. Gordon stated that he believed “Because I could not stop for Death” is the epitome of “Dickinson social commentary”, and I can definitely agree with that. Thanks to everyone for helping me understand the poem I choose to discuss, and the others. Have a great weekend
Sincerely,
Shakia Koger
Dear all who are back for one last hoorah,
I really want to thank all of you for you unique and valuable insights. I believe I have gained a lot from reading all of your responses, and, if at the very least, appreciate Dickinson on a level I do not think I could have gotten to on my own.
With regard to “Tell all the Truth,” I found Chris’s explanation of the lightning lines interesting. I had not thought about the fact that “Perhaps the full truth behind lighting is extra information a child does not require.” This perspective on Dickinson’s employment of said lines adds another layer to this poem. Perhaps the “slanted truth” is never fully explicated to any individual. We may be a bit disappointed, then, to realize that “all the truth” is an ultimately unattainable quest. Chris you may have hit the nail on the head when you state, “a small lie told may cover or mask extra truthful information not needed by the receiver of information.” Jason further explores this poem with his image. Initially, when reading Dickinson’s poem, the “slanted truth” I took to be an altered truth between adults. Thus, when I first looked up Jason’s image of the stork, I wondered how that coincided with Dickinson’s poems. After mulling it over, though, I really enjoyed his interpretation of the poem via the image. The figure of the stork, for American society at least, is a mythological representation of birth: as legend has it, parents tell their young children about the stork in order to “explain” to the children how they came to live under their parents’ roof. Of course, we all know this to be false. Jason’s incorporation of this image with regards to Dickinson’s poem, then, can serve as an example of an established “slanted truth”: one employed and accepted by our society in order to try and explain something that seems otherwise unexplainable to children. So, after being a bit long-winded, thanks Jason for that interesting perspective. In keeping with this discussion of “Tell all the Truth,” Heather mentioned something that happened in our class: “I asked Melody about the tone of the poem. She answered that the tone was ironic. I think Dickinson was trying to relate the ironic nature of truth in her poem.” I certainly agree with this. How could Dickinson’s poem not be ironic if she wants “all the Truth” but in a manner that is “slanted”—once again, thanks Heather for this insight. It seems we all had quite a bit to say about this poem. The question was asked whether or not “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” has elements of social commentary. I certainly believe that it does and evidence this position by all of our discussion/examination.
As to another Dickinson poem, Jennifer’s unrelenting analysis of “Because I could not stop for Death” has given me much to think about. Because this is Dickinson’s most famous poem, and because I have a tendency to brush over poems receiving a lot of critical acclaim, Jennifer (and Shakia) allowed me to think about this poem critically, something I probably would not have done on my own. I particularly enjoyed Jennifer’s contention that that day was perhaps “the longest day of her life.” This is certainly true; for, it would be hard to think eternity would be short-lived.
All of your multi-modal incorporations were interesting and enlightening. One that caught my eye in particular, though, was Jennifer’s image of Hitler. It was interesting to me on two levels: one, because she incorporated it in accordance with “Tell all the Truth”; and two, simply because I did not expect that at all. I must be honest in saying that I did not originally see how Hitler could fit with “Tell all the Truth”; however, after reading Jennifer’s explanation, I like that she blatantly indicates Hitler told “his own truth.” Because of this, I do think this image can fit with Dickinson’s poem, since it yet again reaffirms the notion that “Truth” is pretty subjective.
Thank you again for all of your responses and I wish you the best of luck in your studies,
Gordon
Hello group of young scholars-
I apologize for my late entry. I was travelling in Denmark with my family and had no access to a computer. Oh well, better late than never!
I feel like every time I read the new blog entries, I gain more understanding to Dickinson’s poems. After reading Jason’s entry and looking at the stork image, I was very happy to see how much the stork idea paralleled the lightning idea. However, the stork idea is much easier to understand because everyone is familiar with it. Parents tell their children a stork brings new babies to families. This is a fib in order to delay the conversation on intercourse and sex organs. I imagine a conversation involving those two things would confuse a child quite a bit! Again, this lie doesn’t hurt the child. It gives them an understandable answer to a question they formulated.
I was alarmed to see that when asked to find an image of telling the slanted truth, two of our group members, Jennifer and Heather, went to political figures. I find another parallel here. Are political leaders the adults and the population the represent the children? Do political leaders need to tell fibs in order to mask a harmful truth? I do not want to turn this into a political debate, but it occurred to me that perhaps this adult/child fib telling scenario can be found in other situations.
It was nice discussing poetry with you all. I honestly didn’t think I could contribute anything to the conversation, but it seems as though you all helped me understand the poems better and therefore allowed me to put my two cents in. Thanks and have a good semester!
Chris R
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