The Jabberwocky

[onyxblue1.livejournal.com]

'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 awhile 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!
O 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

Comments

Dramatic readings

[onyxblue1.livejournal.com]

I really enjoy reciting this out loud. It can give you a good workout without you having to fight a manxome foe. I think Lewis Carroll must have had fun writing it. If you find a good annotated copy, it will tell you where he came up with some of the words he used: slithy = slimy + slithery (I think).

Re: Dramatic readings

[simpletwice.livejournal.com]

The annotations that are usually given come from Humpty Dumpty (http://www.cd.chalmers.se/~jessica/Jabberwock/humpty.html) himself. :)

Re: Dramatic readings

[onyxblue1.livejournal.com]

I knew it was somewhere! Lithe and slimy, lithe and slimy. Have to remember that. He did that all through his writing — creating his own words, using archaic words that people think he made up. It must have been at least as fun to write as it is to read.

[sapience.livejournal.com]

ack! the first stanza of that was in my head *all day* yesterday. i woke up and didn't even realize it was finally gone--until i read it here. aaaaaaaaaaah!

hehe.

Bwaa-haa-haah!

[onyxblue1.livejournal.com]

Always glad to be of service!:-)

[ems.livejournal.com]

My favourite thing about this poem is how you KNOW what the words mean, even though they're nonsense. I had a wonderful lecture about it once.