Poetry Spotlight: Shel Silverstein Exaggeration Poems

In a recent Poetry Spotlight I talked about how Shel Silverstein uses onomatopoeia in some of his poems. Today, I'd like to talk about another device he uses, exaggeration or hyperbole. Exaggeration and hyperbole is simply overstating something that is true in order to make a point, or in the case of Shel's poetry, to be funny.

One particular poem which uses exaggeration to both make a point and make you want to giggle uncontrollably, is "Sara Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out." This poem can be found in "Where The Sidewalk Ends."

Sara Stout is a little girl who just doesn't see why she should have to take the garbage out. So she won't take it out. As the days pass, the garbage starts piling up, until the very end, when too late, she decides that maybe she should take it out.

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would not take the garbage out!
She'd scour the pots and scrape the pans,
Candy the yams and spice the hams,
And though her daddy would scream and shout,
She simply would not take the garbage out.
And so it piled up to the ceilings:
Coffee grounds, potato peelings, Brown bananas, rotten peas,
Chunks of sour cottage cheese. It filled the can, it covered the floor,
It cracked the window and blocked the door
With bacon rinds and chicken bones,
Drippy ends of ice cream cones,
Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel,