Angeline
Poet Chick
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2002
- Posts
- 27,065
Welcome to February and Challenge B where we'll write Acrostic Poetry.
What's an acrostic? As Tzara's Thread of Forms notes, it's a poem where the initial letter of each line, when read vertically down the lines, spells out a message. It might be a name or really anything you choose. Here is a short acrostic poem I wrote in 2009:
Let not
Our errant cries,
Vain moments in this night,
Erase tomorrow’s clarity
(Regret).
As you can see reading down the first letter of each line reveals the word "Lover."
The acrostic poetry form has been around forever. It appears in ancient Greek and Latin literature, in the Bible, it shows up pretty much throughout human history. Edgar Allen Poe, William Blake, and John Keats are just a few of the many poets who've written acrostics. The idea of slipping a message (often a secret one) into a poem can be irresistible.
The acrostic form is flexible. You can write a free-verse acrostic poem, one that rhymes or not. You can write an acrostic sonnet, villanelle, whatever strikes your fancy. You can even go wild and write a double acrostic with both the first and last letter of each line spelling out messages. (Check out the amazing double acrostic by our talented and beloved friend GuiltyPleasure linked in the aforementioned Thread of Forms.) There are, in fact, acrostics that can reveal words using many different patterns: every second letter in a line; first letter, then second, then third and so on. But for this challenge you need to write at least one poem where each first letter spells at least one word. After that if you want to get fancy go for it!
Rather than post a lot more examples here I'll share this link to an acrostic "teach-in" thread from 2013, which contains many examples for you to peruse if you're interested.
And by the way, acrostic love poems make fine Valentine's Day gifts. Just sayin'.
So to recap in this challenge write at least one acrostic poem where the first letter of each line spells something. It can spell out one or more words, a name, whatever you and your muse can conjure! Your poems should be at least five lines long. Other than that the length, subject, choice of free verse or form, rhyme or not is all up to you.
Comments, questions and discussion are welcome right here in the thread.
What's an acrostic? As Tzara's Thread of Forms notes, it's a poem where the initial letter of each line, when read vertically down the lines, spells out a message. It might be a name or really anything you choose. Here is a short acrostic poem I wrote in 2009:
Let not
Our errant cries,
Vain moments in this night,
Erase tomorrow’s clarity
(Regret).
As you can see reading down the first letter of each line reveals the word "Lover."
The acrostic poetry form has been around forever. It appears in ancient Greek and Latin literature, in the Bible, it shows up pretty much throughout human history. Edgar Allen Poe, William Blake, and John Keats are just a few of the many poets who've written acrostics. The idea of slipping a message (often a secret one) into a poem can be irresistible.
The acrostic form is flexible. You can write a free-verse acrostic poem, one that rhymes or not. You can write an acrostic sonnet, villanelle, whatever strikes your fancy. You can even go wild and write a double acrostic with both the first and last letter of each line spelling out messages. (Check out the amazing double acrostic by our talented and beloved friend GuiltyPleasure linked in the aforementioned Thread of Forms.) There are, in fact, acrostics that can reveal words using many different patterns: every second letter in a line; first letter, then second, then third and so on. But for this challenge you need to write at least one poem where each first letter spells at least one word. After that if you want to get fancy go for it!
Rather than post a lot more examples here I'll share this link to an acrostic "teach-in" thread from 2013, which contains many examples for you to peruse if you're interested.
And by the way, acrostic love poems make fine Valentine's Day gifts. Just sayin'.
So to recap in this challenge write at least one acrostic poem where the first letter of each line spells something. It can spell out one or more words, a name, whatever you and your muse can conjure! Your poems should be at least five lines long. Other than that the length, subject, choice of free verse or form, rhyme or not is all up to you.
Comments, questions and discussion are welcome right here in the thread.
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