Poem of the Year written 150 years early

Tell all the truth but tell it slant -

Success in Circuit lies

Too bright for our infirm Delight

The Truth’s superb surprise

As Lightning to the Children eased

With explanation kind

The Truth must dazzle gradually

Or every man be blind -

— Emily Dickinson

It’s the time of year for dictionary publishers to announce their Word of the Year selections.

Merriam-Webster chose “gaslighting.” Cambridge Dictionary went with “homer,” the Wordle answer on May 5 that garnered more lookups than any other word. Oxford Dictionary is leaving the choice to readers, who can vote for one of three options: metaverse, #IStandWith, and Goblin Mode.

I don’t know if there is a Poem of the Year, but if so, I vote for Emily Dickinson’s verse above, often known by its first line since the author declined to title her work.

Dickinson scholars estimate “Tell all the truth but tell it slant -” was written in 1872, but some date it several decades earlier. It wasn’t published until after the poet’s death in 1886. (Dickinson’s long, strange road to publication is just as fascinating as her singular life and work.)

So, what makes a 150-year-old poem speak to our cultural moment in 2022?

For one thing, it’s still important to be diplomatic when telling the truth. There is truth, unvarnished truth, and truth that leads the hearer to understand the unvarnished truth.

Many spouses can attest to the importance of “slant” when their significant others ask, “How do I look in this?” While the fate of the universe doesn’t hinge on the answer, the fate of the relationship might.

The recent election, too, speaks to a gradual dazzling of the truth. For many voters, the truth about the kinds of people running for various positions up and down the ticket may have finally dawned on them.

It can be fun for a while to back mavericks, conspiracy theorists and so-called straight shooters, but not at the expense of our system of government, of democracy itself. What is sometimes mischaracterized as refreshing honesty in a candidate is often nothing more than cold-heartedness writ large and shouted through a microphone.

In the weeks after the midterm election, the nominal leader of this certain category of politicians continues to tell the American public who he is, not even bothering to slant the truth anymore. The question is whether more Americans will believe what he is saying when he breaks bread with a white nationalist/Holocaust denier and an antisemite, or espouses the belief that even the Constitution itself should be set aside to allow him to remain in office.

Ultimately, Dickinson’s poem speaks to those who have not been bedazzled by false promises, serving as a reminder of how to speak to those who have.

It’s not easy to deprogram a cult member. Likewise, it’s not easy to steer family and friends back into the mainstream after they have been besotted by demagogues. “Success in circuit” means starting small, finding areas of agreement and building from there.

The sort of dissatisfaction with the economy and culture that led to such a severe break didn’t happen overnight. It won’t be healed overnight either. Certainly, a holiday party is not the place to unleash “the Truth’s superb surprise.” Save that for the New Year.

Dickinson was a famous recluse. We don’t have to be to avoid tough talk. Nor do we have to lie.

But telling all the truth means providing a little slant, or spin, that makes everybody more amenable to the lesson.

Reach Chris at chris.schillig@yahoo.com. On Twitter: @cschillig.

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