Acrostic poems bring me right back to when I was a young boy in primary school. The teacher set colourful paper in front of us and told us about the poems before setting us on our way to create our own. They are really simple and are really enjoyable for children as they encourage them to use associative language to create a feeling from the name or term that is being used.
Commonly, the first word of each line spells out a name or phrase, however they can appear anywhere within. Take a look at some of my examples below and then go away and do some of your own. You can broach any number of topics and it can be really fun to engage in whether you’re a child or adult.
Acrostic Poem Examples
Using the First Letter of Every Line
Spelling out “Swamp”
Squelching footsteps on the ground!
Wellies pulled right up tight!
All around the fog builds up!
Moist marshes!
Pretty stinky if you ask me!
Spelling out “Tea”
Time for a cuppa?
Earl Grey alright, my love?
A ginger nut or two?
Spelling out “Chess”
Chess is the game of kings
Hunched over the board with wrinkled brow
Every move counts
Should I move my knight or pawn?
Surely they’ve thought three steps ahead
Spelling out “Fish”
Fishing requires patience
In the lake they await
Splashing around when they’re hooked on the line
Haddock!
Spelling out “summer”
Summer time and the living is easy
Umbrellas cover me in shade
Maybe we’ll go to the beach
Melting, my ice cream trickled down my hand
Everybody and their dog is out enjoying it
Resorts are packed with sunburnt holiday makers!
Spelling out “winter”
Winter gives me an awful chill
Icicles form on my window ledge
Nights last longer and longer
Tomorrow there will be a snow ball fight and I will win
Ever street is buried in snow
Really slippery floors
Spelling out “spring”
Spring has come
Perfumed smells from all the plants opening again
Roses in bloom
Incredible amount of colour on the trees
Nearby the butterflies flutter
Gardens alive with life once more
Spelling out “autumn”
All the leaves are brown
Under the trees are littered with leafs
Time to prepare for winter again
Underneath my feet the sound of crunching leafs
Nearby a squirrel gathers nuts
Different positions within the lines
Spelling out “Paper”
Please Pass me that paper
A quick note to Aunt Judy
Maybe Patrick would like one too?
Where on earth is that bloody papEr?
Spelling out “Truck”
Across The highway the truck charges on
Pulling up behind a sports caR
Near the Underpass a traffic jam starts
The trucK reaches its destination
Spelling out “Worm”
In the garden a Worm wiggled
I Overturned it with a garden spade
It coiled aRound the time of my finger
Mr worM
Using Names
Spelling out “Philip K. Dick”
PreCogs and Pre-crime
Hunting down runaway androids
Isidore mistakes real for artificial
Lincoln reborn as a Simulacrum
Insanity through false reality
Pris
Kindred
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
In Milton Lumky Territory
Clans of the Alphane Moon
Kindred
Spelling of “Sagan”
Scientific mind of wonder
Astronomer
Gazing at the stars
An agent of reason
Now, sadly no longer alive
Spelling out Shakespeare
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them
Hell is empty and all the devils are here
As soon go kindle fire with snow, as seek to quench the fire of love with words
Knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven
Edward III
Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind
Prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?
Elizabethan playwright
All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players
Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving
Entertained the masses
Acrostic Poems by Famous Poets
Edger Allan Poe
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.
Lewis Carroll – A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky
A boat beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July–
Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear–
Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die.
Autumn frosts have slain July.
Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream–
Lingering in the golden gleam–
Life, what is it but a dream?
EllaBella – Terror
Try as I might I can’t get out of bed, stuck to it with fear
Every inch and the horrid shadows get so near
Rogues I can only think of lurk in my dreams
‘Run downstairs’, I tell myself, ‘No more screams!’
Open the door and fear stands in your way
‘Ruthless thoughts, go away, I want to have my own say!’
There are some what I have done myself and some that I have found by published writers, but you could easily write your own, and do a lot better than the ones that I have done. As mentioned it is great for kids, but getting back into the swing of it myself was so much fun.
You can write on anything that you like and approach topics that are close to your heart.
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