An acrostic is a type of poem or writing where the first letter of each line (or other part of the text) spells out a word, message, or the alphabet. The word comes from French and Latin, and means "highest" and "verse" in ancient Greek. Acrostics are a form of writing with rules and can help people remember information. When the last letter of each line forms a word, it is called a telestich. If both the first and last letters of each line spell words, it is called a double acrostic. An example is the Sator Square, a famous Latin square from the first century.
Acrostics were often used in medieval writing to show the name of the writer or a person they respected, or to create a prayer for a saint. They are most common in poems but can also appear in stories. For example, the German poet Rudolf von Ems used an acrostic with his name at the start of his works. His history book used acrostics to mark the beginning of each time period with the name of an important figure, like Moses or David. Acrostics were often found in German and English writings about history but were rare in other languages.
Form
Acrostics are poems or writings where the first letter of each line spells out a word or phrase. Some simple acrostics arrange the letters of the alphabet in order and are called "alphabetical acrostics" or "abecedarius." These appear in the Hebrew Bible, such as in the first four chapters of the Book of Lamentations, in Proverbs 31:10-31, and in Psalms 9-10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, and 145. Psalm 119 is a well-known example. It is divided into 22 sections, each named after a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, with 8 verses per section. This makes a total of 176 verses. Psalm 145 is also special because it is recited three times daily in Jewish religious services.
Some acrostic Psalms are not perfectly structured. For example, Psalms 9 and 10 together seem to form one acrostic, but the verses are unevenly distributed, and five letters of the Hebrew alphabet are missing. In Psalm 25, one letter is missing, and the next letter is repeated. Psalm 34 ends with an extra line that does not match the previous verse. In Psalms 37 and 111, the numbering of verses and lines causes confusion, leaving some letters unrepresented. Psalm 111 and 112 have 22 lines but only 10 verses. Psalm 145 is missing one letter, but a version found in a Qumran manuscript includes the missing line, matching an ancient Greek translation called the Septuagint. Some scholars, like O Palmer Robertson, suggest that acrostic Psalms in certain books of Psalms may help with teaching, memorization, and organizing themes.
The visibility of an acrostic depends on the writer’s purpose. Sometimes, authors make acrostics easy to spot, such as by decorating key letters in a book called The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. However, acrostics can also be used to hide messages. This is called steganography. Hidden messages might be formed by using the first letter of each word in a text, a method known as a "null cipher." During the Renaissance, people often used acrostics to conceal messages by following patterns, such as selecting letters spaced evenly apart or starting from the end of a text and working backward.
Examples
A well-known acrostic in Greek is the phrase JESUS CHRIST, GOD’S SON, SAVIOUR. The first letters of each word spell ΙΧΘΥΣ (ICHTHYS), which means "fish" in Greek.
According to Cicero, acrostics were often used in Sibylline prophecies, which were written in Greek hexameters. One type of acrostic is called a "gamma acrostic," named after the Greek letter Γ (gamma), where the same words appear both horizontally and vertically. Cicero used the Greek word ἀκροστιχίς to describe this type of acrostic.
In the 3rd century BC, the poet Aratus inspired many writers, including Cicero and Virgil, to use acrostics in their works. One example is in his poem Phaenomena, where the word λεπτή ("slender, subtle") appears as a gamma acrostic and also appears twice in the text, diagonally, and in hidden ways.
Recent discoveries show that Roman poets, especially Virgil, used acrostics. In Eclogue 9, the acrostic "VNDIS" (meaning "in the waves") appears before a question about a game in the waves. In the same poem, the acrostic "DEA DIO" (meaning "goddess Dione") appears in a passage that mentions the goddess Dione, another name for Venus. In Eclogue 8, the acrostic "TV SI ES ACI" (meaning "if you are the one, accept!") appears in a section dedicating the poem to an unnamed person.
In Aeneid 7, a passage about Mars and war includes the acrostic "MARS" (the god of war) both in the text and as an acrostic. In Georgics 1, the acrostic "MA VE PV" (meaning "Publius Vergilius Maro") appears in reverse on alternate lines next to the phrase "namque is certissimus auctor" ("for he is the most certain author").
In Eclogue 6, the word LAESIS ("for those who have been harmed") appears as a double acrostic, going both upward and downward from the same letter. In Aeneid 2, the word PITHI (Greek for "he persuades" or "he deceives") appears as a double acrostic, first backward and then forward in a speech by Sinon.
In Eclogue 4, the acrostic "DE CA TE" (Greek for "tenth") appears in a passage from a pseudo-Sibylline prophecy. In Tibullus’s poem, the acrostic "AVDI ME" ("hear me!") appears in the first letters of alternate lines.
Virgil’s friend Horace used acrostics occasionally. For example, in Odes 1.18, the acrostic "DISCE" ("learn!") forms a gamma acrostic with the word discernunt ("they discern"). In Satires 1.2, the acrostic "OTIA" ("leisure") appears after Horace is advised to rest from writing satire. The same acrostic appears in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in a passage about King Numa Pompilius. In Odes 4.2, the acrostic "PIN" appears in a gamma formation next to the word "Pindarum." In Horace’s Epodes, the initials "IBI… AM" from the first two lines may be rearranged to form "IAMBI," a term for the poem’s meter. In Ars Poetica, Horace wrote a telestic "MVS" (a word for "mouse") next to the word mus ("mouse") in a humorous line.
In the 2nd century AD, a verse summary of the plot was added to each of Plautus’s plays, with an acrostic spelling the name of the play.
In the 3rd century AD, the poet Commodian wrote 80 acrostic poems on Christian themes. The initials of poem 80, read backward, spell "COMMODIANUS MENDICUS CHRISTI" ("Commodian, Christ’s beggar").
In the Mandaic text Right Ginza, chapters 2–5 of Book 12 contain acrostic hymns, with each stanza ordered by a letter of the Mandaic alphabet.
The Dutch national anthem, Wilhelmus, contains an acrostic in its 15 stanzas that spells "WILLEM VAN NASSOV," a title of William the Silent. This title also appeared in a 2010 speech from the throne in the Netherlands.
Vladimir Nabokov’s short story "The Vane Sisters" ends with an acrostic that contains a message from beyond the grave.
In 1829, Edgar Allan Poe wrote an acrostic titled "An Acrostic," possibly for his cousin Elizabeth Rebecca Herring. The initials L.E.L. may refer to the poet Letitia Elizabeth Landon. The acrostic reads:
Letitia Elizabeth Landon.
In 1939, Rolfe Humphries was banned from Poetry magazine after writing a poem with a hidden message about Nicholas Murray Butler. The poem used classical references and was written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
Multiple acrostics
A double acrostic is a type of poem where the first letters of each line form one message, and the last letters of each line form another message. These two messages are sometimes the same. For example, a poem about the name "Stroud," written by Paul Hansford, uses the first letters to spell "Stroud" and the last letters to spell the same name.
Another example of a double acrostic is the Sator Square, a Latin square from the first century. This square is also a palindrome, meaning it reads the same forwards and backwards. It can be read as a 25-letter sentence that is also a palindrome, though its meaning is unclear.
The poem "Behold, O God!" by William Browne is a complex type of acrostic. In the original manuscript, some letters are written in red, larger, and not italic. The lines are also shifted to align the red letters within three crosses that span the entire poem. Each cross contains letters that spell out a verse from the New Testament.
At the top of the middle cross, the letters "INRI" stand for "Iēsus Nazarēnus, Rēx Iūdaeōrum," which means "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" in Latin (John 19:19). These letters represent the three figures crucified at Golgotha, as described in the gospels of Matthew and Luke.
The manuscript version of the poem differs from the published version. Some lines have different wording, and the published version is missing the last four lines. This causes the acrostics to be incomplete. The full manuscript text is shown below, first as regular poetry and then with spacing and bolding to highlight the acrostics. The word "Thou" in line 8 appears in the published version and a cross-stitch sampler from 1793 but is not visible in the photograph.
Behold, O God! In rivers of my tears I come to thee! bow down thy blessed ears To hear my Plaint; and let thine eyes which keep Continual watch behold a Sinner weep: Let not, O God my God my Sins, tho' great, And numberless, between thy Mercy's-Seat And my poor Soul have place; since we are taught, [Thou] Lord, remember'st thyne, if Thou art sought. I come not, Lord, with any other merit Than what I by my Saviour Christ inherit: Be then his wounds my balm— his stripes my Bliss; His thorns my crown; my death be blest in his. And thou, my blest Redeemer, Saviour, God, Quit my accounts, withhold thy vengeful rod! O beg for me, my hopes on Thee are set; And Christ forgive me, since thou'st paid my debt The living font, the Life, the Way, I know, And but to thee, O whither shall I go? All other helps are vain: grant thine to me, For in thy cross my saving health I see. O hearken then, that I with faith implore, Lest Sin and Death sink me to rise no more. Lastly, O God, my course direct and guide, In Death defend me, that I never slide; And at Doomsday let me be rais'd again, To live with thee sweet Jesus say, Amen.