ELIZABETH

ELIZABETH -- it surely is most fit
[Logic and common usage so commanding]
In thy own book that first thy name be writ,
Zeno 1 and other sages notwithstanding;
And I have other reasons for so doing
Besides my innate love of contradiction;
Each poet -- if a poet -- in persuing
The muses thro' their bowers of Truth or Fiction,
Has studied very little of his part,
Read nothing, written less -- in short's a fool
Endued with neither soul, nor sense, nor art,
Being ignorant of one important rule,
Employed in even the theses of the school --
Called -- I forget the heathenish Greek name --
[Called anything, its meaning is the same]
"Always write first things uppermost in the heart."

The acrostic spells "Elizabeth Rebecca," Poe's cousin; her full name was Elizabeth Rebecca Herring. Miss Herring says that Poe wrote her love poetry in the early days.

Another poem illustrating the acrostic form is by David Mason.

Acrostic from Aegina

Anemones you brought back from the path
Nod in a glass beside our rumpled bed.
Now you are far away. In the aftermath
Even these flowers arouse my sleepy head.

Love, when I think of the ready look in your eyes,
Erotas that would make these stone walls blush
Nerves me to write away the morning's hush.
Nadir of longing, and the red anemones
Over the lucent rim-my poor designs,
X-rated praise I've hidden between these lines.

Like Poe's poem, Mason's acrostic is centered on a woman. Her name is spelled out in the acrostic "Anne Lennox." An additional characteristic to note in Mason's poem is how each line refers to "Anne Lennox" in some way.

Sassy Note - Nowadays you'll find a great deal of the Acrostic poems are done for holidays, such as Valentines, Mother's Day etc.