Home › Glossary › Letter H

Hidden acrostic

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An acrostic not immediately obvious, requiring deeper decoding or marginal cues

Detailed Definition
Hidden acrostic: A poem in which the initial (or other) letters of lines spell a word or message not immediately apparent, requiring close reading to uncover; often used for dedications, coded commentary, or playful subtext.
Example
Example in poetry:
Hidden acrostic: In Psalm 119, Hebrew letters begin each stanza section; George Herbert’s “Easter Wings” hides “Lord” vertically; Poe’s “A Valentine” conceals Frances Sargent Osgood’s name; Modern poems spelling “climate” down first letters of lines; Acrostics revealing author’s name only when read diagonally; Hidden political messages in dissident poetry via acrostic
Additional Notes
Acrostic where initial letters spelled vertically but not obvious. Embedded, concealed. Related: acrostic, word games. Study: discovery vs. intention—are all hidden acrostics deliberate?
Also Known As
Transparent verse Crystalline poem Clear-form poetry Brittle verse
Skip to main content