Welcome to Poem of the Day – Exaggeration by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) is one of the most renowned Victorian poets, famous for her emotionally intense and beautifully written poetry. Among her many works, “Exaggeration” stands out as a striking example of her poetic style, where she blends romanticism with a sharp insight into human emotions. In this poem, Browning uses exaggeration to convey profound feelings about love and longing.
Exaggeration Poem
WE overstate the ills of life, and take
Imagination (given us to bring down
The choirs of singing angels overshone
By God’s clear glory) down our earth to rake
The dismal snows instead, flake following flake,
To cover all the corn; we walk upon
The shadow of hills across a level thrown,
And pant like climbers: near the alder brake
We sigh so loud, the nightingale within
Refuses to sing loud, as else she would.
O brothers, let us leave the shame and sin
Of taking vainly, in a plaintive mood,
The holy name of GRIEF !—holy herein
That by the grief of ONE came all our good.
Exaggeration Explanation
Summary of the Poem
“Exaggeration” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a short but powerful poem. In it, the speaker reflects on the intensity of their emotions and how they might seem inflated or exaggerated when expressed. However, this exaggeration is a natural response to the deep feelings of love and admiration they experience. The poem’s language is simple yet expressive, capturing the essence of how feelings can grow larger than life when one is in love.
Themes and Analysis
Exaggeration as a Symbol of Love: At the heart of this poem is the idea that love, especially passionate love, often causes us to exaggerate our feelings. The speaker admits that they might “exaggerate” their emotions, but this exaggeration is not necessarily false. Rather, it reflects the overwhelming nature of love. When we care deeply for someone, our emotions sometimes feel so intense that they seem to transcend reality. Browning uses exaggeration as a literary device to explore how love can seem all-consuming.
The Power of Emotion: Browning uses exaggeration to demonstrate how powerful emotions can be. The speaker’s willingness to express love in exaggerated terms reveals the depth of their feelings. It highlights how love can magnify the smallest gestures or thoughts, turning them into grand, overwhelming experiences.
The Struggle with Intensity: The poem also touches on the internal struggle between wanting to express these intense emotions and the awareness that they may seem too large or out of proportion. This tension between exaggeration and reality is central to the poem’s emotional impact. The speaker is aware that their emotions may seem inflated, but they cannot help but express them because of their sincerity and depth.
The Role of Language in Love: Browning explores the role of language in expressing love. The exaggerated language used in the poem becomes a tool for the speaker to convey the overwhelming power of their feelings. It reveals the limitations of ordinary language when trying to express something as profound as love. In this way, Browning plays with the idea that words, even if exaggerated, are necessary to express the fullness of our emotions.
Conclusion
In “Exaggeration,” Elizabeth Barrett Browning masterfully uses exaggeration as a means of expressing the intensity of love. Through this literary device, she is able to capture the overwhelming nature of emotions and the human desire to communicate them, even when they may seem larger than life. The poem reminds us that love can often feel like a force beyond our control, pushing us to express our feelings in ways that might appear exaggerated but are deeply rooted in our genuine experience of emotion.
