Poems with Hyperbole
Hyperbole is the use of extreme exaggeration to make a point, express strong emotion, or create a dramatic or humorous effect.
Hyperbole gives poetry its grand gestures. When a poet writes 'I've told you a million times' or 'my heart weighs a thousand pounds,' they're not lying — they're telling a deeper truth through exaggeration. Hyperbole works because emotions often feel larger than literal language can contain. Love feels infinite, grief feels bottomless, joy feels like it could lift you off the ground. By exaggerating, poets match the scale of language to the scale of feeling. The best hyperbole doesn't feel excessive — it feels accurate to the emotional reality.
Examples of Hyperbole
- 1I could sleep for a year (extreme exaggeration of tiredness)
- 2Her beauty could launch a thousand ships (echoing Homer's hyperbole)
- 3The bag weighed a ton (exaggeration for emphasis)