Hyperbole Poems
Hyperbole, or overstatement, is
exaggeration used for humor or emphasis.
Josh Billings, nineteenth- century
American humorist, tells of an Erie Canal
mule so dedicated that when he once fell
into the water, he kept right on towing,
“breathing thru his ears which stuck out of
the water about 2 feet 6 inches.”
Hyperbole Poems
Although inaccurate, hyperbole can be
strong and effective, as seen in these
two examples from nineteenth-century
English poetry. Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s
eagle nests “Close to the sun in lonely
lands” ; and William Wordsworth writes
of daffodils that “stretch in neverending line.”
Hyperbole Poems
Lovers seem especially fond of hyperbole.
At his love’s window, English Romantic
poet Percy Bysshe Shelley swoons:
O lift me from the grass!
I die! I faint! I fail!
Hyperbole Poems
HYPERBOLE is from the
Greek hyperbolē,
meaning “ a throwing
beyond” or “excess.”
Hyperbole Poem Example
When I die I will be a ghost
and discover the world's secrets.
When I die and become a ghost
I will return to my body and live.
When I die I will be on earth
and choose to be in heaven.
When I die and I have revenge
I will live to seek it.
When I die
I will live.
Hyperbole Poem Example
In Winter I get up at night And dress by yellow
candle light. In Summer, quite the other
way, I have to go to bed by day. I have to go
to bed and see The birds still hopping on the
tree, Or hear the grown-up people's
feet Still going past me in the street. And
does it not seem hard to you, When all the
sky is clear and blue, And I should like so
much to play, To have to go to bed by day?