Acrostic Poem Generator

Reference

Acrostic poem ideas and prompts

Ninety spines sorted by occasion, person, season, place, feeling and classroom topic — with notes on which behave well, which are traps, and how to choose.

By the Acrostic Poem Generator team · · 6 min read

The hardest part of an acrostic is often not the writing but the choosing. A spine that is too long sags; a spine that is too abstract produces abstractions; a spine that is just a name produces a list of virtues unless you have a plan.

Here are ninety words worth spelling, sorted by what you need them for, with notes on which ones behave well.

On this page

  1. How to choose a spine
  2. Occasions and cards
  3. People and relationships
  4. Seasons, months and weather
  5. Places and journeys
  6. Feelings and states
  7. Classroom topics
  8. Phrase spines
  9. Words to avoid

How to choose a spine

Three questions, in order.

  1. How many lines do I actually have material for? Be honest. Most subjects support five to eight good lines. Choose a word of that length rather than choosing a word and then padding.
  2. Is it concrete? WINTER produces better poems than SEASONS; KITCHEN produces better poems than HOME. The more physical the spine, the more physical the lines tend to be.
  3. What are its hard letters? Check before you commit. A word with two Us and a V is a different proposition from one without, and it is much less painful to discover that now.

Occasions and cards

BIRTHDAY · THANK YOU · CONGRATULATIONS · GOOD LUCK · WELL DONE · FAREWELL · WELCOME · SORRY · GET WELL · NEW HOME · RETIREMENT · GRADUATION · ANNIVERSARY · NEW BABY · CHRISTMAS · DIWALI · EID · HANUKKAH · EASTER · NEW YEAR

Best behaved: THANK YOU, GOOD LUCK and WELL DONE. All short, all made of easy letters, and all carry a message in the margin so the poem itself is free to be about something else. See the THANK YOU and GOOD LUCK poems in the examples.

Hardest: CONGRATULATIONS, at fifteen letters with two Us. Use WELL DONE instead unless you have real material. More on card poems at birthday acrostics.

People and relationships

MOTHER · FATHER · SISTER · BROTHER · GRANDMA · GRANDAD · DAUGHTER · SON · FRIEND · TEACHER · NURSE · NEIGHBOUR · TEAMMATE · MENTOR · BEST FRIEND · MY WIFE · MY HUSBAND · PARTNER · FAMILY · HOME

Note: a relationship word is often better than a name, because it frees the poem from having to be a portrait. MOTHER can be about a kitchen. See the MOTHER poem in the examples, and name acrostics for the alternative.

Seasons, months and weather

SPRING · SUMMER · AUTUMN · FALL · WINTER · JANUARY · MARCH · APRIL · JUNE · OCTOBER · NOVEMBER · RAIN · SNOW · FROST · FOG · STORM · THUNDER · HEATWAVE · MONSOON · SUNRISE

Best behaved: WINTER, OCTOBER and FOG. All three are dense with material and free of hard letters. Hardest: JULY, which is four letters including a J and a Y and gives you almost nowhere to go.

Places and journeys

KITCHEN · GARDEN · ATTIC · STATION · HARBOUR · MOTORWAY · VILLAGE · CITY · ISLAND · RIVER · FOREST · MOUNTAIN · BEACH · MARKET · LIBRARY · HOSPITAL · AIRPORT · THE OFFICE · HOMETOWN · ROAD TRIP

Note: place spines are the reliable choice for anyone who finds the form too sentimental. A room is a subject that cannot be complimented, which forces the poem into description — and description, done well, ends up carrying more feeling than a poem that set out to be moving.

Feelings and states

HOPE · GRIEF · CALM · TIRED · BRAVE · LONELY · PATIENCE · COURAGE · WORRY · RELIEF · JOY · ANGER · HOMESICK · NERVOUS · GRATEFUL

Warning: abstract spines are the most dangerous category in this list, because an abstract word invites abstract lines and the poem becomes a definition. There is one rule that saves them: never mention the feeling. A poem spelling GRIEF that contains the word grief has already lost; a poem spelling GRIEF that is entirely about a fridge full of other people's casseroles has not.

Classroom topics

OCEAN · VOLCANO · PLANETS · HABITAT · RECYCLE · MAGNET · FRICTION · ROMANS · TUDORS · VIKINGS · PYRAMID · DESERT · CLIMATE · MONSOON · RAINFOREST · KINDNESS · RESPECT · TEAMWORK · SCHOOL · PLAYTIME

One fact per line works better than one feeling per line for every word on this list. Full lesson structure at teaching acrostic poems.

Phrase spines

The most under-used option in the form. Spaces are skipped, so a phrase costs you only its letters, and the margin gets to say something a single word cannot.

I AM FINE · COME HOME · MISS YOU · WE TRIED · STILL HERE · NOT YET · YOU FIRST · SEE YOU SOON · ONE MORE YEAR · IT WAS WORTH IT · NO REGRETS · KEEP GOING · ALMOST THERE · THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING · I FORGIVE YOU

The interesting ones are those the poem can contradict. A poem spelling I AM FINE whose lines quietly demonstrate the opposite is the single most effective thing this form can do — there is an example here.

Words to avoid

  • Very long names and phrases unless you have a structure. Fifteen lines of anything is a lot, and the middle is where acrostics die.
  • Words with three or more of the same letter — unless you commit to it as a refrain. See the note on repeated letters.
  • Words that are already a compliment. WONDERFUL, AMAZING, PERFECT. The spine sets the register, and a spine made of praise produces a poem made of praise.
  • Anything you cannot picture. If you cannot see the word, the poem will be about the idea of the word rather than the thing, and readers can always tell.
A–Z word lists Once you have a spine, openers for every letter in it. How to write an acrostic The method, in four steps, with a worked example. Birthday acrostics The most common occasion, handled properly. For teachers Cross-curricular spines and a lesson plan.