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Poetry Knowledge Zone
> Class 13
Acrostics
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The
origin of acrostics is not clearly stated anywhere. It is said that
ACROSTICS were used by ancient religious cults to identify
themselves to one another in secret. It is shrouded in religion and
each religion lays claim to using acrostics first. I think it is safe
to merely say that acrostics have been around for a while.
Acrostic was defined
as a short verse composition, so constructed that the initial letters
of the lines, taken consecutively, form words.
The fancy for
writing acrostics is of great antiquity, having been common among the
Greeks of the Alexandrine period, as well as with the Latin writers
since Ennius and Plautus, many of the arguments of whose plays were
written with acrostics on their respective titles. One of the most
remarkable acrostics was contained in the verses cited by Lactantius
and Eusebius in the 4th century, and attributed to the Erythraean
sibyl, the initial letters of which form the words 'Iricrovs Xpioros
9eoO wos crconvp: "Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour." The
initials of the shorter form of this again make up the word ix^us
(fish), to which a mystical meaning has been attached (Augustine, De
Civitate Dei, 18, 23), thus constituting another kind of acrostic.
The monks of the
middle ages, who wrote in Latin, were fond of acrostics, as well as
the poets of the Middle High German period, notably Gottfried of
Strassburg and Rudolph of Ems.
The great poets of
the Italian renaissance, among them Boccaccio, indulged in them, as
did also the early Slavic writers. Sir John Davies (1569-1626) wrote
twenty-six elegant Hymns to Astraea, each an acrostic on " Elisabetha
Regina "; and Mistress Mary Fage, in Fame's Roule, 1637, commemorated
420 celebrities of her time in acrostic verses. The same trick of
composition is often to be met with in the writings of more recent
versifiers. Sometimes the lines are so combined that the final letters
as well as the initials are significant. Edgar Allan Poe worked two
names one of them that of Frances Sargent Osgoodinto verses in such a
way that the letters of the names corresponded to the first letter of
the first line, the second letter of the second, the third letter of
the third, and so on.
Acrostic verse has
always been held in slight estimation from a literary standpoint. Dr
Samuel Butler says, in his "Character of a Small Poet," " He uses to
lay the outsides of his verses even, like a bricklayer, by a line of
rhyme and acrostic, and fill the middle with rubbish." Addison
(Spectator, No. 60) found it impossible to decide whether the inventor
of the anagram or the acrostic were the greater blockhead; and, in
describing the latter, says, " I have seen some of them where the
verses have not only been edged by a name at each extremity, but have
had the same name running down like a seam through the middle of the
poem." And Dryden, in Mac Flecknoe, scornfully assigned Shadwell the
rule of some peaceful province in acrostic land. |
Acrostics are a very
simple form to learn to write and lot of fun with it too. I am sure
many of you have dabbled in acrostics at one time or the other. The
simplest way to start would be starting with your name. Write the
letters in your name in a vertical line
S
M
I
T
H
A
Now think of various
words that begin with these letters which suit you well. IT is as
simple as that
S -
Sensible
M - Muddled
I - Intelligent (?)
T - Trustworthy
H – Happy J
A - Adamant, Argumentative
Oh I am sure my
mother can supply a whole list of words!
See its simple. As a
child I used to love to make up acrostics to madden or irritate
people. I came up with this one for SMART when my brother used to call
himself that
S - Stupid
M – Men
A - Analyzing
R - Rubbish
T – Topics
Acrostics on many
words are a popular way to have a good laugh at party time and I love
to make up acrostics to pass the time. I pick any word and write an
acrostic on it. It gets addicting after a while. I like to pick even a
whole sentence that makes a statement and write an acrostic out of it.
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At one
period much religious verse was written in a form imitative of this
alphabetical method, possibly as an aid to the memory. The term acrostic
is also applied to the formation of words from the initial letters of
other words. "Cabal," which, though it Was in use before, with a similar
meaning, has, from the time of Charles II., been associated with a
particular ministry, from the accident of its being composed of Clifford,
Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington and Lauderdale. Akin to this are the names
by which the Jews designated their Rabbis; thus Rabbi Moses ben Maimou
(better known as Maimonides) was styled "Rambam," from the initials
R.M.B.M.; Rabbi David Kimchi (R.D.K.), " Radak," &c.
How to
write an acrostic poem?
An
acrostic poem is a way to show what you know about the subject you are
writing about. It can be anything from an apple to Aishwarya Rai. You
might not think of it as poetry because it doesn't rhyme, but poetry
doesn't always have to rhyme. Before you begin, make a list of all
the things you know about the character: his or her likes, dislikes,
abilities, fears, and so on. An acrostic poem is one where you choose a
word or name (like the name of a character in a book) and use each letter
in the name as the beginning of a word or line that tells something about
that person or character.
Let’s say indianest
I -
Influencing the minds of
N - New generation of people
D - Destined to lead the world
I - into a new world
A -
And
N - Negotiate life’s
E - Eternal puzzle and twists
S - Satisfying the quest for
T - Truth
Not a
great one but the best I could come up on the spur of the moment. Acrostic
may or may not rhyme. Rhyming and meter don’t form part of the form of
acrostic but both many be used to facilitate easy reading and complicate
the form a little more to add challenge to the writer.
Simply
writing an acrostic forming words that begin with the required letter are
a good start but don’t make excellent reading. As you get more and more
comfortable within the form, start telling a story within the confines of
the form, incorporate a little humor. The first example of acrostic I
provided using my name is where you start but it is dry boring and not
likely to win any praises. You can find a huge wealth of acrostics in the
internet, read them to get an idea of the magic you can create with
acrostics. Come on try it, it is simple and can be practiced on that train
or bus ride to work when we don’t have anything better to do than look out
the window. It also reeves up your mind for the day ahead.
Double
Acrostic
Double
acrostic most probably developed from the acrostic and is the forefather
of the modern day crossword puzzles. Double and triple acrostics occupy an
important niche in the history of word puzzles, for it is generally
recognized that they were the predecessors to the crossword puzzle. For
those unfamiliar with the genre, a double acrostic consists of clues for a
sequence of words (the cross-lights) to be written in a list, plus two
clues to the words spelled out by the first and last letters of the
cross-lights (the uprights). In a triple acrostic a third upright is
formed out of interior letters in the cross-lights. The cross-lights may
consist of words of varying lengths, but the uprights are obviously
constrained to have exactly as many letters as there are cross-lights.
Probably
invented in the 1850's, the double acrostic was a fad in the latter part
of the 19th century. Queen Victoria was believed to be very fond of the
double acrostic which, by this time, had evolved from a verse-form into a
type of puzzle. This acrostic was supposedly written by her royal hand:
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A
city in Italy
A river in Germany
A town in the United States
A town in North America
A town in Holland
The Turkish name of Constantinople
A town in Bothnia
A city in Greece
A circle on the globe |
NapleS
ElbE
WashingtoN
CincinnatI
AmsterdaM
StambouL
TorneA
LepantO
EcliptiC |
The
first letters spell out the name of a well-known English city (NEWCASTLE)
while the last letters, when read upwards, name what the city is famous
for (COAL MINES).
he
acrostic craze continued well into the 20th century. A typical example of
these puzzles is this one published in the 1930's when movies and actors
were all the rage.
Here you
may see, despite the veil of haze,
A heavenly body with most moving ways.
1. A
bustle that surrounds both you and me.
2. This is not lawful; still may sometimes be.
3. A priest or beast-if an odd spelling's found.
4. The dregs of vinegar maternal sound.
The
solution is:
FusS
IlliciT
LamA
MotheR
A
comparative rarity, the triple acrostic appeared occasionally in puzzle
books, almanacs and children's magazines until the mid-20th century at
which time, it seems to have faded from view. Here's an example from
The Second Penguin Problem Book published in 1944.
Left,
middle and right
Give us a choice of light
1.
Kind of glance which he's who's lost his heart
Bestows on her who wears the latter part.
2. Here is one with a gun.
3. This is bound to go round.
4. Simplify taste and eliminate waste.
My meaning is made plain by my saying it again.
The
solution is:
AdoRinG
MuskEteeR
BanDagE
EconOmizE
ReiteRatioN
(AMBER, RED OR GREEN)
Later on
these two forms were eclipsed by the crossword and rapidly faded from the
scene and became extinct.
–
Smitha Chakravarthula
July 11, 2004
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