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Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll   
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Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll (1832-1898 / Cheshire / England)
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Dodgson's family was predominantly northern English, with Irish connections. Conservative and High Church Anglican, most of Dodgson's ancestors were a .. more >>
85 poems of Lewis Carroll
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  Jabberwocky

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(105 votes)



  'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

'Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!'

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood a while in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One two! One two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

'And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Lewis Carroll


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  Comments about this poem (Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll )
Click here to write your comments about this poem (Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll )
 
  Deborah Schuff  (4/20/2009 8:35:00 PM)

A wonderfully silly poem, a must to read out loud! Lewis Carroll had a wonderful way with words, whether real or imaginary.
  Milica Franchi  (4/17/2009 10:12:00 PM)

I didn't understand a word from the first four verses. Is that English or gibberish?
  Anthony Foster  (4/17/2009 3:42:00 PM)

It reads as if a young child was speaking the words. A very enjoyable read written by a brilliant poet.
  JOE POEWHIT  (4/17/2009 3:01:00 PM)

Just had some imagination, to put the killing of a bird into surrealistic tone for his era of writing. A standout of imagination. As seen in Alice in Wonderland. Fantasy in his era, was real, real far left, for Church orientated societies. A rare bird was Lewis Carroll.
  Ian Fraser  (2/26/2009 8:13:00 AM)

Lewis Carroll aka Rev Charles Lutwidge Dodgson easily makes it into my top 50. One of the great mavericks and eccentrics of English literature he cunningly encoded some wicked satire on Victorian manners and morals in the guise of literature for children. Great efforts have been made to decipher his work but it has for the most part resisted. Particular attention has been paid to the Jabberwocky in this poem, but no definitive identity has ever been obtained, though it is almost certainly one of Rev. Dodgson's clerical superiors.
Carroll was also a brilliant parodist. 'You are Old Father William', included in poemhunter.com is for example the definitive parody of William Wordsworth, whose work was very popular with the Victorians. To my mind Jabberwocky also has the air of a parody, though it is hard to say exactly of what. Perhaps he was just making fun of those (many) writers who strain for effect by using abstruse 'poetic' language.
  Janri Gogeshvili  (4/17/2008 3:58:00 AM)

Shining, _Symbolics … wit …
  Philippe Barbeau  (4/17/2007 4:20:00 PM)

very nice poem, very thoughtful too!
  Chris Purser  (4/17/2007 3:19:00 PM)

This poem is brilliant
  Pinarose Onyournose  (4/3/2007 8:37:00 PM)

This poem is brilliant! I can't help but smile every time I read it. I've memorized it too. If you liked this poem, you might also like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat by Lewis Carroll:

Twinkle, twinkle, little bat,
How I wonder what your at,
Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea tray in the sky.

(PS: I dare to read this out loud without laughing. It's next to impossible!)

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