Definition of Acrostic
An acrostic is a piece of writing in which the first, last or other specific letters of each line form a word with special significance to the text. These letters are inserted deliberately in order to allow the readers to interpret the hidden message or idea.
Explanation of Acrostic
An acrostic has a special meaning related to the content of the text. It is mostly found in poetry. It contains a hidden message or an idea for the readers to interpret. It often reveals the name of the poem’s subject or the author’s name as well.
The poetry in which acrostic is used is known as acrostic poetry. This poetry can be written with or without rhyme in any meter or free verse form. However, the poem in which the initial letter of each verse forms a word is the most common type of acrostic poem. These letters are often capitalized.
Types of Acrostic Poems
The most common acrostic poem is a poem in which a word or a message is formed by the initial letters of each line. However, there are different types of acrostic poetry on the basis of the position of letters that spell out a word. The different types of acrostic poems are:
- Telestich Acrostic:
An acrostic poem in which the last letters of each verse form a word or message is known as telestich.
For Example:
Lost in endless wanderings,
what new sign and pattern
will I find in crystalline subzero
embroidery frosting my window
- Mesostic Acrostic:
It is an acrostic poem in which a word is formed by the sequential arrangement of letters in the middle of the verses.
For example:
The clock is Ticking away
the hours,mInutes and
seconds of My life
but love Endures
- Double Acrostic:
It is a poem in which the words are spelled out by the initial letters as well as by the last letters of each verse.
For Example:
Flowers given oF
Love are beautifuL
Opening soft petals tO
Welcome the sun to shoW
Each person that springtimE
Really is the best time of yeaR
Sweetly simple, and so gorgeouS
- Abecedarian Acrostic:
It is an acrostic poem in which the alphabets are emphasized instead of words. It is also known as abecedarius. Each line starts with an alphabet sequentially.
For Example:
A monosyllabic word
Beginning and journeys start from the soul period
Center is the earth,
Duties start on from this temporary center
Ends in hereafter with entering heaven or hell,
Formally every phase is the most significant
Goal and success depend on this central deeds
How and what are done? (Of good and bad) ,
In the above example, only one stanza from the poem is mentioned. The rest of the poem follows the same technique. Each line starts with an alphabet without disturbing the alphabetical sequence.
- Non-Standard Acrostic:
In this type of acrostic poem, the letters are emphasized in different places within the poem for the formation of a word or a message.
For example:
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet,
And so are you.
Usage of Acrostic
This literary device is used to give a new dimension to the texts. This device is used by the writers purposefully to convey their message and ideas to the readers. It also transforms a simple text into an artistic one by allowing the readers to understand the hidden idea.
An acrostic is most commonly used in the poems. It can be used in prose or word puzzles as well. The words or alphabets are inserted in the text deliberately in order to convey a layered message. It is often used to highlight the theme of the literary piece as well.
Moreover, the use of acrostic style makes the text easy to remember and memorize. Therefore, it is mostly used in children’s literature.
Examples of Acrostic in Literature
Acrostic in Edgar Allan Poe’s Elizabeth:
Edgar Allan Poe, a renowned American poet, has written a famous acrostic poem named Elizabeth. This poem is about his cousin Elizabeth Rebecca Herring. It is the most common type of acrostic poem in which the first letter of each line spells out a word or a name. As the poem is written about Elizabeth, the initial letters of each line spell out her name, Elizabeth Rebecca.
The excerpt given below is the first stanza of the poem. The initial letters of each verse spell out his cousin’s first name E-L-I-Z-A-B-E-T-H.
Elizabeth, it surely is most fit
[Logic and common usage so commanding]
In thy own book that first thy name be writ,
Zeno and other sages notwithstanding;
And I have other reasons for so doing
Besides my innate love of contradiction;
Each poet – if a poet – in pursuing
The muses thro’ their bowers of Truth or Fiction,
Has studied very little of his part,
- Acrostic in William Blake’s London:
The poem London by William Blake emphasizes the sounds of London’s cityscape. In the third stanza of the poem, the initial letters of each verse form the word “HEAR”. The speaker puts a special emphasis on the sounds in his environment i-e the cries of chimney-sweepers and the sighs of soldiers. However, the acrostic is used in only one stanza of the poem that is given below:
How the Chimney-sweeper’s cry
Every blackening Church appalls,
And the hapless Soldiers sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls.
- Acrostic in John Cage’s Overpopulation and Art:
John Cage, an influential poet, has written the acrostic poem named Overpopulation and Art. The key letters that spell out the words are written in the middle of the poem which makes it a Mesostich acrostic. This poem is written in free verse in which the key letters spell out its title ‘overpopulation and art’.
The excerpt mentioned below is just one of the twenty cycles of the poem.
abOut 1948 or 50 the number of people
liVing
all at oncE
equaled the numbeR who had ever lived at any time all added together
the Present as far as numbers
gO
became equal to the Past
we are now in the fUture
it is something eLse
hAs
iT doubled
has It quadrupled
all we nOw
kNow for sure is
the deAd
are iN the minority
they are outnumbereD by us who’re living
whAt does this do to
ouR
way of communicaTing…