Poetry Style: Week 1

Acrostic

a poem, word puzzle, or other composition in which certain letters in each line form a word or words.

An acrostic is a poem or other form of writing in which the first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message.

Example:

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,
 Breathe 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.

-Edgar Allan Poe (1829)