Thus, Dickinson’s use of the image of lightning as an analogy for truth creates ambiguous meaning in her poem because it supports contradictory arguments. In “Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Bishop, and the Rewards of Indirection,” Lynn Keller and Cristanne Miller argue that Dickinson “compares the truth’s effect to the brightness and surprise of lightning, but the poem’s analogy undercuts the poem’s instruction: you cannot control truth, lightning tells us it will always be ‘too bright,’ and it will always ‘surprise’” (537). The children’s understanding of lightning does not change its nature, nor does their understanding hinder the lightning’s ability to destroy. In this comparison between the children’s relationship with lightning and man’s relationship with truth, Dickinson emphasizes the need for understanding, and she reassures man that he can successfully understand the truth if the process of understanding is gradual.ĭickinson’s use of the image of lightning, however, also equates the truth to a powerful force of nature that is destructive. Dickinson uses the image of lightning to show that man cannot process the sudden knowledge of truth because truth must be learned gradually in order to be understood. For man, sudden knowledge without understanding is “too bright for our infirm Delight” (3). The truth must be explained in the same way. They are “eased/with explanation kind,” comforted only when they understand what the lightning is and why it occurs (5-6). The children are already aware of the existence of lightning, but they are frightened because they do not understand it. Just as the children are terrified by a sudden flash of light across a dark sky, so, too, is man terrified by sudden knowledge of truth. In “Tell all the truth but tell it slant,” Dickinson uses the image of lightning to create ambiguity by comparing the effects of truth to the effects of lightning:ĭickinson characterizes truth as lightning, creating the image of frightened children that parallels man’s relationship with an unambiguous truth. Dickinson’s choice to create ambiguity in her poetry emphasizes her belief in the importance of the process of discovery, rather than the finding of definitive meaning. We see the three devices mentioned-the image of lightning, enjambment, and dashes-used in “Before I got my eye put out,” creating unclear meaning. Dickinson uses the image of lightning in “Tell all the truth but tell it slant,” enjambment in “I never hear that one is dead,” and dashes in “The Brain – is wider than the Sky” to undermine certainty in meaning. By studying each device individually within a specific poem, the relationship between the use of these devices and the uncertain meaning of the poem becomes evident. Using each of these devices, Dickinson increases the uncertainty found in her already ambiguous subjects. Dickinson manipulates poetic devices to increase the ambiguity in her poetry in order to parallel the ambiguous and uncertain natures of the subjects about which she writes.Īlthough Dickinson uses a variety of poetic devices in her poetry, her use of imagery, enjambment, and dashes is particularly interesting when examining her poetry for ambiguity. When Dickinson writes on “indescribable” subject matter, it is not only the subject matter itself that creates a lack of certainty, but also the form that Dickinson uses to express these subjects.

It is because these subjects cannot be defined that Dickinson finds their exploration so essential and focuses on them in her poetry. Nevertheless, Dickinson explores these subjects, not for the purpose of seeking an answer, but for the sake of exploring them. Awards in the Public Humanities: Research & Engagement (2022-2023)ĭickinson’s poetry is filled with moments of ambiguous meaning because she focuses on topics that do not have a definitive interpretation, such as lightning, truth, and the infinite.Center for Literary and Comparative Studies.

Dashes in poems