Originally Posted by czgibson

Greetings,


If the words are arranged vertically, as you've written them there, or perhaps as lines of poetry or prose, then it's called an acrostic.

That's different from an acronym, whose precise definition is disputed, but which generally refers to:

a series of initial letters that happen to form a word [E.g.: World Health Organisation = WHO],

or whose initials are later used by people as shorthand for the object or idea itself. [Such as "self-contained underwater breathing apparatus", which is generally known as "scuba" purely because that is what the initials happen to spell out.]

Hope that helps.

Btw, you're the first person I've heard of who didn't like Simon Armitage's poems. I've taught them loads of times and normally they go down really well with students.

You're welcome to ask me for help if you need it, although I can't promise to answer promptly as work keeps me away from the forum most of the time.

In the meantime, here's an excellent site that you should find helpful.

Peace