An acrostic is a type of poem or writing where the first letter of each line (or paragraph) spells out a word, message, or the alphabet. The word "acrostic" comes from French and Latin, which trace back to Greek words meaning "topmost" and "verse." As a form of writing with rules, an acrostic can help people remember information. When the last letter of each line forms a word, it is called a telestich. When both the first and last letters of each line spell out words, it is called a double acrostic. An example of this is the Sator Square, a famous Latin square from the first century.

Acrostics were often used in medieval writing to highlight the name of a poet, their patron, or to create a prayer for a saint. They are most common in poems but can also appear in prose. For example, the German poet Rudolf von Ems began his major works with an acrostic using his name. His history book also used acrostics to mark the start of each era, such as for Moses or David. Acrostics were frequently used in German and English chronicles 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 only list 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. Each section has 8 verses, and every verse in a section starts with the same letter. This makes the psalm 22 x 8 = 176 verses long. Psalm 145 is recited three times daily in Jewish worship.

Some acrostic psalms are not perfectly structured. For example, Psalms 9 and 10 together seem to form one acrostic, but the verses for each letter vary in length, and five letters are missing. The order of two letters is also reversed. In Psalm 25, one letter is missing, and another letter is repeated. In Psalm 34, the final verse adds an extra line, even though it matches the content of verse 22. In Psalms 37 and 111, the way verses are numbered and divided into lines causes some letters to have only one verse or be missing entirely. Psalms 111 and 112 have 22 lines but only 10 verses. Psalm 145 is missing the letter "Nun" in most versions, but one ancient manuscript includes it, matching a Greek version called the Septuagint. Some scholars, like O Palmer Robertson, suggest that acrostic psalms in books 1 and 5 of Psalms may help readers remember information and guide transitions between topics.

The visibility of an acrostic often depends on the writer’s goal. If the author wants the message to be noticed, they might use decorative letters, as seen in the book Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. However, acrostics can also hide messages, a practice called steganography. Writers might make key letters look like regular text or arrange words so the hidden message is hard to find. These hidden messages, called "null ciphers," use the first letter of each word to form a secret message. This method was common during the Renaissance and could involve patterns like repeating letters at set intervals or starting the message from the end of the text.

Examples

An acrostic in Greek is a well-known word formed by the first letters of the phrase "JESUS CHRIST, GOD’S SON, SAVIOUR," which spells ΙΧΘΥΣ (ICHTHYS), meaning "fish."

According to Cicero, acrostics were a common feature in Sibylline prophecies, which were written in Greek hexameters. A specific type of acrostic is called a "gamma acrostic," named after the shape of the Greek letter Γ (gamma). In this type, the same words appear both horizontally and vertically. Cicero used the Greek word ἀκροστιχίς to describe this kind of acrostic.

The 3rd-century BC poet Aratus, who influenced many Latin writers like Cicero and Virgil, is believed to have popularized the use of acrostics. For example, in his work Phaenomena, the word leptē ("slender, subtle") appears as a gamma acrostic and also appears in the text, diagonally, and in hidden forms.

Recent discoveries have found acrostics in the works of Roman poets, especially in Virgil’s writings. In Eclogue 9, the acrostic VNDIS ("in the waves") appears before the line quis est nam ludus in undis? ("for what is your game in the waves?"). Another acrostic, DEA DIO ("the goddess Dione"), appears in a passage mentioning the goddess Dione, another name for Venus. In Eclogue 8, the phrase TV SI ES ACI ("if you are the one, accept!") is hidden as an acrostic.

In Aeneid 7.601–4, which describes the custom of opening the Temple of Janus, the name MARS (the god of war) appears both as an acrostic and in the text. In Georgics 1.429–433, the double-letter reverse acrostic MA VE PV (meaning "Publius Vergilius Maro") is found on alternate lines.

In Eclogue 6, the word LAESIS ("for those who have been harmed") appears as a double acrostic, both upward and downward from the same letter L. In Aeneid 2, the word PITHI (Greek for "he persuades" or "he deceives") appears backward and then forward in a speech by Sinon.

In Eclogue 4, the syllables DE CA TE (Greek for "tenth") form an acrostic, repeated cryptically in the text. In Tibullus’s poem, the words AVDI ME ("hear me!") are hidden as the first letters of alternate lines.

Horace, a friend of Virgil, used acrostics occasionally. For example, DISCE ("learn!") appears as a gamma acrostic in Odes 1.18.11–15. The word OTIA ("leisure") appears in Satires 1.2.7–10, after Horace is advised to rest from writing satire.

In the 2nd century AD, a verse summary of the plot was added to each of Plautus’s plays, with each summary containing an acrostic of the play’s name.

The 3rd-century AD poet Commodian wrote 80 short poems called Instructiones, each fully acrostic. The initials of poem 80, read backward, spell COMMODIANUS MENDICUS CHRISTI ("Commodian, Christ’s beggar").

In the Right Ginza, a Mandaic text, 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, spelling WILLEM VAN NASSOV ("William of Nassau"), a title of William the Silent. This acrostic also appeared in a 2010 speech from the throne.

Vladimir Nabokov’s short story The Vane Sisters ends with an acrostic paragraph containing a hidden message.

In 1829, Edgar Allan Poe wrote an acrostic titled An Acrostic, possibly dedicated to his cousin Elizabeth Rebecca Herring (though the initials L.E.L. refer to Letitia Elizabeth Landon). The poem includes the lines:

*Elizabeth it is in vain you say "Love not" — thou sayest it in so sweet a way:
In vain those words from thee or L.E.L. Zantippe's talents had enforced so well:
Ah! if that language from thy heart arise, Breath it less gently forth — and veil thine eyes.
Endymion, recollect, when Luna tried To cure his love — was cured of all beside — His folly — pride — and passion — for he died.*

Poe’s sonnet An Enigma (1848) contains a hidden name, with the first letter of the first line, the second letter of the second line, and so on.

In 1939, Rolfe Humphries was banned from Poetry magazine for writing a poem with a hidden scurrilous phrase targeting Nicholas Murray Butler. The poem, An ode for a Phi Beta Kappa affair, used unrhymed iambic pentameter and included one classical reference per line.

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. In some cases, these two messages may be the same. For example, a double acrostic on the name "Stroud" by Paul Hansford uses the first letters to spell "Stroud" and the last letters to spell the same name.

Another example is the first-century Latin Sator Square. This square is a famous 5×5 grid of letters that forms a double acrostic. It also contains several palindromes, which are words or phrases that read the same forwards and backwards. The entire square can be read as a 25-letter sentence that is a palindrome, though its meaning is not clearly understood.

The poem Behold, O God! by William Browne is a complex acrostic. In the original manuscript, some letters are written in red, capitalized, and made larger. These letters are arranged in three crosses that span all the lines of the poem. Each cross contains a verse from the New Testament:

• Left cross: Luke 23:42: "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom."
• Middle cross: Matthew 27:46: "O God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
• Right cross: Luke 23:39: "If thou art the Christ, save thyself and us."

At the top of the middle cross is the word "INRI," which stands for Iēsus Nazarēnus, Rēx Iūdaeōrum in Latin. This means "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" and is mentioned in the Bible (John 19:19). The three Bible verses represent the three people crucified with Jesus, as described in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

The original manuscript of the poem differs from the version usually published. The manuscript includes more lines and has different wording in some places. However, the acrostics (the messages formed by the first and last letters) are the same as far as they go. The published version is missing the last four lines, which shortens the acrostics. The full manuscript text is shown first as regular poetry and then rearranged to highlight the acrostics. The word "Thou" in line 8 appears in the published version and in a cross-stitch sampler of the poem from 1793, but it is not visible in some photographs of the manuscript.