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.
Truth is something, Dickinson believed, that must be eased into. To put simply, we must sugar-coat the truth to keep it from blindsiding us.
She says that “success in circuit lies,” which can be interpreted as meaning that the successfulness of telling a lie comes from giving the person to which you are lying, the run-around. That, of course, is if you literally interpret the word circuit, which means a roundabout journey or course. So, for Dickinson, lies are things that are continually circling around us. Maybe even something that we cannot escape.
Dickinson says in her poem that the truth is “too bright for our infirm delight” meaning that people are too weak-minded to be able to wrap our heads around the complete truth of the matter which is being lied about. She says that truth is a “surprise” to people who are unable to recognize a lie when flatly given one. In a way, Dickinson is claiming that people are too weak-minded, maybe even too dim-witted, to understand the difference between lies and the truth.
Dickinson, in the last stanza of the poem, attempts to show how she perceived people that are slowly told the truth. She describes them as “children” who are afraid of lightning. I myself have a small son who was frightened the first time he heard thunder and saw lightning. But with a simple explanation and showing him that there is nothing to be afraid of, it eased his fears of the unknown concept of thunder and lightning. Dickinson describes people as being like my son, afraid of what they don’t understand, but with simple explanation and gentle persuasion they come to realize that there is nothing to fear.
“The truth must dazzle gradually” Dickinson says, “Or every man be blind.” To sum up the entirety of the poem in these two lines, Dickinson is saying that when giving someone the truth, one must do so gently and with some caution. If you give too much of the truth away all at one, it can take the other person by surprise and they can, and will, be caught off guard.
I believe that there are some reasons to, so-call, sugar-coat the truth, but for the most part being blatantly honest is the best course of action. I would rather be hit hard and fast with what is true than guess at what the end out-come will be.
What I'd Like My Son to Know 
Great post, Christine. You’ve done a wonderful job of doing a close reading of Dickinson’s poem, and I particularly like the moments where you’ve tied in your own experiences.
Many critics point to a religious meaning to the poem, though in two totally different directions. On the one hand, the speaker could be referring to the awesome power of God…or to the lack of any God (or afterlife, or something like this) at all. Interesting that critics are so all over on this one!