world religion world religion maps world religion symbols |
Encyclopedia of Religion entry forAcrosticA peculiar kind of verse-composition. The initial letters of the lines are made to form together a word or sentence. Religions psalms or hymns are sometimes composed in this way. There are examples in the Psalms of the Old Testament (e.g., Ps. 119). In the 119th Psalm the stanzas run through the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In Rabbinic literature this method of composition became very common. Sometimes the order of the alphabet was reversed, the hymn beginning with the last letter and ending with the first. See J. W. Etheridge, Intr. to Hob. Lit., 1856. citations: Encyc. of Rel., Canney
article created 2006-04-12 , last updated 2006-04-12 |
|
|
|
||