Acrostic Poem Examples

An acrostic is when the first letter in every line of a text spells out a specific word. Of course, an acrostic could also be constructed where the last letter of each line of a text spells out the word, but this is harder to create. An acrostic poem is a poem where the first letter of each line (or the last letter of each line) spells out a specific word.

Sunshine warming my toes,
Underwater fun with my friends.
Making homemade ice cream on the porch,
Many long nights catching fireflies.
Early morning walks to the creek,
Reveling in the freedom of lazy days.

Edgar Allan Poe's "An Acrostic":

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 follie-pride-and passion-for he died.

Lewis Carroll wrote Through the Looking Glass for a real little girl named Alice Pleasance Liddell. One of the chapters of the story is an acrostic of her name:

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?