What Is an Acrostic in English

An acrostic is a series of lines in which certain letters—usually the first in each line—forms a name or a message when read  in sequence. A memory device as well as a type of verbal play, the acrostic has been a popular form of entertainment for over 2,500 years. Acrostic derives from the Greek words end line. Examples of Acrostics The following are examples of Acrostics (follow the bold letters). Acrostic ACROSTIC: are playfulcontrivances of prose or verserendered so that each lineopens or closes with words insequence to read fromtop to bottom, theirinitial or final lettersconstituting a word or phrase. Acrostics as Mnemonic Devices Acrostic mnemonics are sentences in which the first letter of each word is the first letter of one of the things you need to remember...Acrostics are especially useful for long lists of things whose names dont begin with vowels. A famous acrostic for the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto is My very energetic mother just served us nine pizzas, which can be replaced by My very evil mother just served us newts, should you agree with the 2006 reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet rather than a full-fledged one. Double Acrostics A double acrostic spells something out with the first and last letters. For example: Unite and untie are the same—so say you.Not in wedlock, I ween, has the unity been.In the drama of marriage, each wandering goutTo a new face would fly—all except you and IEach seeking to alter the spell in their scene. John Keats's Acrostic Give me your patience, sister, while I frameExact in capitals your golden name;Or sue the fair Apollo and he willRouse from his heavy slumber and instillGreat love in me for thee and Poesy.Imagine not that greatest masteryAnd kingdom over all the Realms of verse,Nears more to heaven in aught, than when we nurseAnd surety gives to love and Brotherhood. A Biblical Acrostic A third key rhetorical feature in Lamentations [a book of the Hebrew Bible] is the acrostic that structures four of the five poems (Lam 1-4)...Several purposes have been offered to explain the use of acrostics, including fulfilling magical rites, aiding memorization of poems, emphasizing completeness, or producing aesthetically pleasing literature (Westermann, 98-100; OConnor). Although there may be multiple purposes behind the use of acrostics, most likely they communicate that the poem expresses totality, and in the case of Lamentations both the total devastating effect of the destruction and the total expression of the pain of those who experienced it. Sources Anonymous, Double AcrosticDictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry Writings, ed. by Tremper Longman and Peter Enns. InterVarsity Press, 2008Evans, Rod L.,  Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge: The Book of Mnemonic Devices. Penguin, 2007Halley, Ned, Dictionary of Modern English Grammar. Wordsworth, 2005Keats, John, Georgiana Augusta Keats