Today for poets there is a huge selection of poetic forms in which they can create their masterpieces. One of them is an acrostic, which was especially popular among poets of the Silver Age. The acrostics were written by Valery Bryusov, Anna Akhmatova, Nikolai Gumilev and even Sergey Yesenin. Throughout the history of literature, many other famous poets also tried their hand at writing acrostic.
What is acrostic
The very word "acrostic" came from the Greek language and meant "poetic line." It is noteworthy that the Slavs had their own word for this concept - seamstress.
As a rule, any text with a meaning was considered an acrostic, from the initial letters of each line of which it was possible to compose a word, phrase or sentence. It is noteworthy that among the Greeks ordinary texts without rhyme were also considered acrostic.
Acrostic in ancient Rome and medieval Europe
Having understood what acrostic is, it is worth familiarizing yourself with a brief history of their appearance and distribution.
The creator of this poetic form is Epicharm, a poet and playwright of Ancient Greece. It was with his light hand that this poetic form appeared.
A little later, this type of poem was widespread in the Roman Empire. Having borrowed many elements of culture from the Greeks, the Romans also began to often use acrostic. The acrostic was especially popular in the name of some patron of the poet or his beautiful lover. Sometimes Roman poets encrypted riddles in riddles in their poems. Often writing the acrostic was simply an exercise for the poet.
One of the most famous works of this kind is associated with the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. So, being initially outlawed, Christians, in order to recognize each other, composed an acrostic of the word "Jesus" dedicated.
This work relates more to a subspecies of an acrostic - akrotelestikha.
With the emergence of Christianity, the only religion in the Middle Ages, the acrostics did not lose their popularity. However, now they were more often written not by secular poets, but by monks who had been tonsured. Composing poems dedicated to God, as well as Bible stories, the monks often “hid” their names or tips in them, how to correctly understand this text.
In secular literature, acrostic was also often used. However, now he played the role of a cipher due to stricter censorship by the church. Many progressive thinkers and scientists with the help of acrostics shared secret information with each other or made fun of official authorities.
Who is the acrostic of the Middle Ages dedicated to? Most often, noble people. Many talented poets of that time, in order to get hold of a powerful patron, dedicated their works to them. However, not everyone could write truly good acrostics because of the complex construction of the poem and the need to preserve the corresponding meaning in it. In addition, wealthy people were not fools, and although they did not really understand the intricacies of poetry, they could notice the stupidly written verse.
Akrostikha in Russian literature of the late eighteenth - early twentieth centuries
Acrostic was spread in Russian literature (examples below) thanks to archimandrite German, who lived in the seventeenth century. Possessing a good poetic talent, the hieromonk wrote poems based on the psalms of David. Often in his poems he encrypted his name. Only seventeen of his poetic works have survived to our time, and all of them are written in the style of acrostic.
In the eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth centuries, acrostic women gradually lost their popularity, yielding to other poetic forms.
But with the advent of the silver age of Russian poetry (at the end of the nineteenth century), with the advent of many great poets of acrostic literature, it again became popular. This was also facilitated by the development of symbolism, since the acrostic helped graphically “hide” a certain symbol in the poem.
Anna Akhmatova, Nikolai Gumilev, Valentin Bryusov and many other brilliant poets of that era composed beautiful acrostices, sometimes dedicating them to each other or competing with each other between them. Valery Bryusov was especially fond of acrostic, the pen of which owns many acrostic of the most diverse species.
Throughout the twentieth century and today, acrostic women are not so popular, but they are present in the work of almost every poet. This is due to the fact that the acrostic is a kind of challenge - after all, to compose a good acrostic can only be well-versed in rhyming the poet. In addition, acrostic women are often written to order today to give someone a present for the holiday, and this congratulation was unique. Sometimes they are simply dedicated to some event or season. So, Anastasia Bogolyubova wrote a small acrostic “Spring”.
Breathing life into the scent
Natural and sweet to the heart,
Running off the dirty freeways
Alone with natural power
The chords of the forest will sound.
Types of Acrostic
Having figured out what acrostic is, and learning about their history, we can proceed to their typology. Regarding the purpose of the acrostic, there are three types.
- Acrostic of initiation. The most common form for the entire existence of this poetic form. In the capital letters of the poem, as a rule, the name of the person to whom this work was dedicated was encoded - a benefactor, a loved one, or just a friend. Akrostikha initiations were often written to each other by poets of the silver age. For example, Nikolai Gumilev wrote an acrostic about Anna Akhmatova.
- Acrostic key. In this poem, in capital letters, the key to understanding the meaning of the whole work is encrypted. Often used in composing puzzles. An example is the acrostic "Friendship" of Yuri Neledinsky-Meletsky, intended for Tsarevich Alexei.
- Acrostic-cipher. It encrypts a word, phrase or even a whole sentence that outsiders should not have noticed. Such an acrostic was spread during the raging ecclesiastical inquisition. And also in various eras in countries where censorship was especially demanding.
There are also other varieties of acrostic. These are abcededary, mesostomy, telestich, acrotelestich, acroconstruction and diagonal acrostic. Although sometimes they all distinguish as separate types of poetic form. At the moment, the question of their affiliation with the subspecies of the acrostic is open.
Abcededary
Abecedarius is an acrostic written in alphabetical order. In this work, each word or beginning of a stanza begins with a letter of the alphabet in order. In Russian literature, the abechedary of Valery Bryusov is widely known.
Telestich
Mirror analogue of acrostic. In it, the encrypted word is not in the first letters of the initial lines of the poem, but in the last.
Often, instead of a single letter, at the end of a stanza a whole syllable or even a word stands out. This poetic look was very popular in Roman literature.
Akrotelestich
This subspecies is a combination of acrostic and telestich elements. The secret word or phrase can be composed not only from the initial letters of each stanza, but also from the last. Most often, the initial and final phrases are identical, although there are exceptions. An example of such a poem is the work of Mikhail Bashkeev "Akrotelestikh for I. B.".
Mesostichus
In this form of poetic form, the letters in the middle of each stanza make up a word. This verse is not very popular. Since people often divide poems into stanzas at their discretion, and then finding the encrypted word is very difficult.
Diagonal acrostic
Sometimes the mesostic and diagonal acrostic are confused, revered by them one and the same. Meanwhile, these are completely different species. In a diagonal acrostic, the word is encrypted diagonally, not vertically.
Sometimes this species is also called the “labyrinth”, as with the mesostix, incorrectly dividing the lines, finding the secret word will not be easy.
Acroconstruction
The acroconstruction combines at the same time elements of acrostic, telestich and other species. At the beginning of the twentieth century, in Russian literature, akroconstructions dedicated to Marina Tsvetaeva and Plato Karpovsky were composed by Valentin Zagoryansky. He, like no one was able to cope with this difficult poetic form. The following is a poem dedicated to Karpovsky.
Tautograms
Related to the acrostic are tautograms. In rare cases, they are mistaken for acrostic, but this is a fallacy. In these poems, all words begin with one letter. For example, the famous poem, tautogram Bryusov.
Today, not everyone knows what acrostic is (the term itself), but no one will refuse if such a work is dedicated to him. If desired, everyone can order for themselves or their loved ones a unique inscribed acrostic. In addition, any person who can rhyme at least a little can try their hand at writing acrostics, because this is a very entertaining activity.