Anagrammatic poetry is

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

with the constrained form that either each line or each verse is an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

of all other lines or verses in the poem. A poet that specializes in anagrams is an anagrammarian. Writing anagrammatic poetry is a form of a

constrained writing Constrained writing is a literary technique in which the writer is bound by some condition that forbids certain things or imposes a pattern. Constraints are very common in poetry, which often requires the writer to use a particular verse form. D ...

similar to writing

pangram A pangram or holoalphabetic sentence is a sentence using every letter of a given alphabet at least once. Pangrams have been used to display typefaces, test equipment, and develop skills in handwriting, calligraphy, and typing. Origins The best-k ...

s or long

alliteration Alliteration is the repetition of syllable-initial consonant sounds between nearby words, or of syllable-initial vowels if the syllables in question do not start with a consonant. It is often used as a literary device. A common example is " Pe ...

List of anagrammatic poems

* Archive of Literary Anagrams: Hundreds of long anagrams of poetic and literary subjects by over 50 contributors, including the longest literary anagram ever created. *Eight Poems in the Manner of OuLiPo, by Kevin McFadden * Oh Damn! Must I Refrigerate?: Anagrammatic poem by Cory Calhoun of the title and first eight lines of Shakespeare's sonnet "The Marriage of True Minds." * Dianagrams and

Monica Lewinsky Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist. Lewinsky became internationally known in the late 1990s after U.S. President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an affair with her during her days as a White House intern ...

by Pip Eastop * Rishi Talks to Katie: a dialogue between two high school students: a text's sentences are rearranged, then its words, then its letters * In the French poem ''Ulcérations'' by

Georges Perec Georges Perec (; 7 March 1936 – 3 March 1982) was a French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist, and essayist. He was a member of the Oulipo group. His father died as a soldier early in the Second World War and his mother was killed in the Ho ...

, every line is an anagram of the title. * The book Permutation City opens with an anagramatic poem. * In the poem Washington Crossing the Delaware by

David Shulman David Shulman (November 12, 1912 – October 30, 2004) was an American lexicographer and cryptographer. Shulman contributed many early usages to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' and is listed among "Readers and contributors from collections" for ...

(1936), all 14 lines are anagrams of the title. *In the online book, ISOTOPES2 by Daniel Zimmerman, each line of the 14 line poems anagrams a 4 x 4 word square. *The Uncertainty of the Poet, by

Wendy Cope Wendy Cope (born 21 July 1945) is a contemporary English poet. She read history at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She now lives in Ely, Cambridgeshire, with her husband, the poet Lachlan Mackinnon. Biography Cope was born in Erith in Kent (now ...

, is a gentle poem that repeatedly shuffles its words.

References

Genres of poetry Anagrams {{lit-genre-stub

List of anagrammatic poems

See also

References