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However, acrostics may also be used as a form of steganography, where the author seeks to conceal the message rather than proclaim it.

In some cases an author may desire an acrostic to have a better chance of being perceived by an observant reader, such as the acrostic contained in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (where the key capital letters are decorated with ornate embellishments). Often the ease of detectability of an acrostic can depend on the intention of its creator. Some, like O Palmer Robertson, see the acrostic Psalms of book 1 and book 5 of Psalms as teaching and memory devices as well as transitions between subjects in the structure of the Psalms. Psalm 145 does not represent the letter Nun, having 21 one verses, but one Qumran manuscript of this Psalm does have that missing line, which agrees with the Septuagint. Psalm 111 and 112 have 22 lines, but 10 verses. In Psalms 37 and 111 the numbering of verses and the division into lines are interfering with each other as a result in Psalm 37, for the letters Daleth and Kaph there is only one verse, and the letter Ayin is not represented. In Psalm 34 the current final verse, 23, does fit verse 22 in content, but adds an additional line to the poem. In Psalm 25 one Hebrew letter is not represented, the following letter ( Resh) repeated. For example, Psalm 9 and Psalm 10 appear to constitute a single acrostic psalm together, but the length assigned to each letter is unequal and five of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet are not represented and the sequence of two letters is reversed. Some acrostic psalms are technically imperfect. Notable among the acrostic Psalms is the long Psalm 119, which typically is printed in subsections named after the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, each section consisting of 8 verses, each of which begins with the same letter of the alphabet and the entire psalm consisting of 22 x 8 = 176 verses and Psalm 145, which is recited three times a day in the Jewish services. These acrostics occur in the first four of the five chapters that make up the Book of Lamentations, in the praise of the good wife in Proverbs 31 :10-31, and in Psalms 9-10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119 and 145 of the Hebrew Bible. Relatively simple acrostics may merely spell out the letters of the alphabet in order such an acrostic may be called an 'alphabetical acrostic' or abecedarius.

In chronicles, acrostics are common in German and English but rare in other languages. The Middle High German poet Rudolf von Ems for example opens all his great works with an acrostic of his name, and his world chronicle marks the beginning of each age with an acrostic of the key figure (Moses, David, etc.). They are most frequent in verse works but can also appear in prose. the first-century Latin Sator Square).Īcrostics are common in medieval literature, where they usually serve to highlight the name of the poet or his patron, or to make a prayer to a saint. When the last letter of each new line (or other recurring feature) forms a word it is called a telestich the combination of an acrostic and a telestich in the same composition is called a double acrostic (e.g. As a form of constrained writing, an acrostic can be used as a mnemonic device to aid memory retrieval. The term comes from the French acrostiche from post-classical Latin acrostichis, from Koine Greek ἀκροστιχίς, from Ancient Greek ἄκρος 'highest, topmost' and στίχος 'verse'. For the word puzzle, see Acrostic (puzzle).Īn 1850 acrostic by Nathaniel Dearborn, the first letter of each line spelling the name ' JENNY LIND'Īn acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the first letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. This article is about a type of poem or writing.

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