Acrobats, Ian Hamilton Finlay

a                 a                 a                 a                 a

         c                 c                 c                 c

r                  r                  r                  r                  r

         o                 o                 o                 o

b                 b                 b                 b                 b

         a                 a                 a                 a

t                  t                  t                  t                  t

         s                 s                 s                 s

t                  t                  t                  t                  t

         a                 a                 a                 a

b                 b                 b                 b                 b

         o                 o                 o                 o

r                  r                  r                  r                  r

         c                 c                 c                 c

a                 a                 a                 a                 a

The peculiarity of the poem is guaranteed by its layout.

The poem is represented in a square where the word “acrobats” appears over and over again.

The layout creates several effects:

·         For each line there is a letter repeated five or four times.

·         For each column there is a symmetrical sequence of letters.

·         Starting from the angles we can read the words “acrobats” that cross one another, creating a series of geometrical figures.

The poet tries this way to express the ability of the acrobats and their life, spent in a continuous up and down movements.