Acrostic

"An Acrostic"
By Edgar Allen Poe

(from poetry.about.com)

 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.

Biographical Information

         On January 19, 1809, Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Poe's father and mother, both professional actors, died before the poet was three and John and Frances Allan raised him as a foster child in Richmond, Virginia. John Allan, a prosperous tobacco exporter, sent Poe to the best boarding schools and later to the University of Virginia, where Poe excelled academically. After less than one year of school, however, he was forced to leave the University when Allan refused to pay his gambling debts. 

         In 1827, he moved to Boston and enlisted in the United States Army. His first collection of poems, Tamerlane, and Other Poems, was published that year. In 1829, he published a second collection entitled Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems. Neither volume received significant critical or public attention. Poe began to sell short stories to magazines at around this time, and, in 1835, he became the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. He married Virginia Clemm in 1836. Over the next ten years, Poe would edit a number of literary journals including the Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and Graham's Magazine in Philadelphia and the Broadway Journal in New York City. It was during these years that he established himself as a poet, a short-story writer, and an editor. He published some of his best-known stories and poems including "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," and "The Raven."

         Poe's work as an editor, a poet, and a critic had a profound impact on American and international literature. His stories mark him as one of the originators of both horror and detective fiction. Today, Poe is remembered as one of the first American writers to become a major figure in world literature.

(biographic information from poets.org)

Explanation of Technique

       The way acrostic poems are setup is very unique. To make an acrostic poem correctly, the first letter of each line in the text have to spell out a word. Usually acrostic poems do not need to rhyme. So, Edgar Allan Poe's poem used above is an acrostic, because the first word of each line from the poem spells out the word, "Elizabeth".

Interpretation of Poem

        This poem was challenging for me to interpret. "An Acrostic", by Edgar Allan Poe, talks about some challenges a particular man faces while being in love. The poem first starts out with his lover, Elizabeth, telling him, "Love not." However, Edgar Allan Poe writes that those words are in vain. Later, in the poem the man's foolishness, pride, and passion, causes him to die when Luna tries to cure his love.

(photo from desimartini.com)

Visual Explanation

      I chose a picture from the play, Romeo and Juliet, because I think this poem is connected with William Shakespeare's famous play. In both the poem and play, love brings upon death. For Romeo and Juliet, both teenagers do anything to be with each other and that turns out to be their downfall. In "An Acrostic", by Edgar Allan Poe, the negatives about the man brings the end of his relationship and his death.