We all know by now that I am a HUGE word nerd. Therefore, I love when Mrs. Liamini teaches us things like hyperbation: the inversion of the normal order of words as customary to their language for the sake of emphasis. Some of my other favorite words about words are palindromes and portmanteaus.
Here is my attempt at “hyperbating” a poem I wrote. Here is the original poem:
Reconvening for Dinner
Reconvening for dinner
That ordinary time is special for us
All other time that is ordinary is isolating for us
That is the definition of dysfunctional to me
But the others don’t see any difference
From the people glowing in the windows across the lawn (instance of imagery)
We seem ordinary to them
Isolation doesn’t like light
Isolation doesn’t let people glow (pinch of personification)
They only see fraudulence
All our truths are behind shut doors
Closed blinds
Tight curtains
Isolation is the cave of darkness we all prefer to sit in (masterpiece of a metaphor)
Here is the poem when I use hyperbation:
Reconvening for Dinner
Reconvening for Dinner
Special for us is that ordinary time
Isolating for us is all other time that is ordinary
Dysfunctional? For me, that is the definition
Any difference the others don’t see
From across the lawn, the people glowing in the windows
Ordinary to them we seem
Light, isolation doesn’t like
Glow? Isolation doesn’t let people
Only fraudulence they see
Behind shut doors... all our truths
Blinds closed
Curtains tight
The cave of darkness we all prefer to sit in is isolation
The only observation I’ll make is this; I noticed that, oftentimes, for hyperbation to work, you have to add a lot more punctuation and vary your syntax and then you get a masterpiece with a whole new meaning! How does the hyperbation change the way you interpret the poem?
I’ll leave you with some imagery as well. I don’t often pay attention to imagery as much as I do, say personification and alliteration, but I should because, done well, it is powerful. Here is a stanza from a poem I wrote called “Laying in the Middle of the Floor.” I utilize auditory imagery.
My soul is cleansed
As I pour out its impurities
Through melodic cacophonies of sound
Flowing through iPhone speakers
Echoed by my mouth
That is my favorite part of that poem not only because of the auditory imagery, but because of the slant rhyme between “sound” and “mouth” and the fact that, if read correctly, that stanza sounds amazing as spoken word!
Sincerely,
The Wordsmith
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