mesostic

A mesostic is a poem or other text arranged so that a vertical phrase intersects lines of horizontal text. It is similar to an acrostic, but with the vertical phrase intersecting somewhere in the midst of the line, as opposed to the beginning of each line.

The practice of using index words to select pieces from a preexisting text was developed by Jackson Mac Low as "diastics". It was used extensively by the experimental composer John Cage (Walsh 2001).

Types

There are two types of mesostic: fifty percent and one hundred percent. (See also the example below.)

In a fifty-percent mesostic, according to Andrew Culver (John Cage's assistant), "Between any two [capitalized] letters, you can't have the second [letter]."Cage 57.
In a one-hundred-percent mesostic, "Between any two [capitalized] letters, you can't have either [letter]."Cage 57.

File:Finger_post,_Maker%27s_Mark.jpg

Below, an example of a one-hundred-percent mesostic:

KITCHEN

let us maKe

of thIs

modesT

plaCe

a room Holding

tons of lovE

(&, Naturally, much good food, too)

It qualifies as a one-hundred-percent mesostic because there is no k or i in the text between the capital K of line 1 and the capital I of line 2 –

let us maKe

of thIs

– no i or t between the capital I and T –

of thIs

modesT

– and so on.

Notes

References

Cage, John. Musicage. Ed. Joan Retallack. Hanover & London: Wesleyan University Press, 1996.
Walsh, Michael Sunday, Jun. 24, 2001. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071117194235/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,162589,00.html "Sounds of Silence"], Time Magazine.

Category:Graphic poetry