Discover

"'Jabberwocky'" is a poem of nonsense verse written by Lewis Carroll, and found as a part of his novel ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (1871). It is generally considered to be one of the greatest nonsense poems written in the English language.
This poem is used in many schools to teach students about the use of portmanteaux.

Contents

The poem

Glossary

Pronunciation

Origin and structure

Translations

Derivative works

Reception of Poem

The Reach of the Poem

See also

Notes

External links

The poem

:'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.

Glossary

The first verse originally appeared in ''Mischmasch'' - a periodical which Carroll wrote and edited for the amusement of his family - claiming to be a piece of Anglo-Saxon poetry.
Several of the words in the poem are of , many of them portmanteaux. In the book, the character of Humpty Dumpty gives definitions for the nonsense words in the first stanza. In later writings, Lewis Carroll explained several of the others. The rest of the nonsense words were never explicitly defined by Carroll, who even claimed that he did not know what some of them meant. An extended analysis of the poem is given in the book ''The Annotated Alice'', including writings from Carroll about how he formed some of his idiosyncratic words. A few words that Carroll invented in this poem (namely "", "", "") have entered the English language. The word ''jabberwocky'' itself is sometimes used to refer to nonsense language.

:'Bandersnatch' – A swift moving creature with snapping jaws. Capable of extending its neck.^[1]
:'Borogove' – A thin shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round, something like a live mop.^[2] The initial syllable of ''borogove'' is pronounced as in ''borrow'', rather than as in ''worry''.^[3]
:'Brillig' – Four o'clock in the afternoon: the time when you begin ''broiling'' things for dinner.^[2][5]
:'Burbled' – Possibly a mixture of "'b'leat", "m'ur'mur", and "war'ble'".^[6]
:'Chortled' - Combination of ''chuckle'' and ''snort''.^[2]
:'Frabjous' - Probably a blend of ''fair'', ''fabulous'', and ''joyous'' .^[8]
:'Frumious' – Combination of "fuming" and "furious."^[3]
:'Galumphing' - Perhaps a blend of "gallop" and "triumphant." (Used to describe a way of "trotting" down hill, while keeping one foot further back than the other. This enables the Galumpher to stop quickly)^[8]
:'Gimble' – To make holes like a gimlet.^[2]
:'Gyre' – To go round and round like a gyroscope.^[2][13] However, Carroll also wrote in Mischmasch that it meant to scratch like a dog.
:'Jubjub' – A desperate bird that lives in perpetual passion.^[1]
:'Manxome' – Combination of "monstrous" and "fearsome", or possibly "manly" and "buxom". Possibly related to the Manx cat.
:'Mimsy' – Combination of "miserable" and "flimsy."^[2]
:'Mome' – Possibly short for "from home," meaning that the raths had lost their way.^[2]
:'Outgrabe' (past tense; present tense ''outgribe'') – Something between bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze in the middle.^[2][18]
:'Rath' – A sort of green pig.^[2] (''See Origin and structure for further details.'')
:'Slithy' – Combination of "slimy" and "lithe."^[2] The ''i'' is long, as in ''writhe''.^[3]
:'Toves' – A combination of a badger, a lizard, and a corkscrew. They are very curious looking creatures which make their nests under sundials. They live on cheese.^[2] Pronounced so as to rhyme with ''groves''.^[3]
:'Uffish' – A state of mind when the voice is gruffish, the manner roughish, and the temper huffish.^[24]
:'Wabe' – The grass plot around a sundial. It is called a "wabe" because it goes a long way before it, and a long way behind it, and a long way beyond it on each side.^[2]

Pronunciation

In the Preface to ''The Hunting of the Snark'', Carroll wrote:

''[Let] me take this opportunity of answering a question that has often been asked me, how to pronounce "slithy toves." The "i" in "slithy" is long, as in "writhe"; and "toves" is pronounced so as to rhyme with "groves." Again, the first "o" in "borogoves" is pronounced like the "o" in "borrow." I have heard people try to give it the sound of the "o" in "worry." Such is Human Perversity.''

Also, in an author's note (dated Christmas 1896) about Through the Looking-Glass, Carroll wrote:

''The new words, in the poem "Jabberwocky", have given rise to some differences of opinion as to their pronunciation: so it may be well to give instructions on ''that'' point also. Pronounce "slithy" as if it were the two words, "sly, thee": make the "g" ''hard'' in "gyre" and "gimble": and pronounce "rath" to rhyme with "bath."''

Origin and structure

The poem was written during Lewis Carroll's stay with relatives at Whitburn, near Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, although the first stanza was written in Croft on Tees, close to nearby Darlington, where Carroll lived as a boy.^[26]
The first stanza of the poem originally appeared in ''Mischmasch'', a periodical that Carroll wrote and illustrated for the amusement of his family. It was entitled "Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry." Carroll also gave translations of some of the words which are different from Humpty Dumpty's. For example, a "rath" is described as a species of land turtle that lived on swallows and oysters. Also, "brillig" is spelt with two ''y''s rather than with two ''i''s.
Roger Lancelyn Green, in the Times Literary Supplement (March 1, 1957), and later in The Lewis Carroll Handbook (1962), suggests that the rest of the poem may have been inspired by an old German ballad, "The Shepherd of the Giant Mountains." In this epic poem, "a young shepherd slays a monstrous Griffin." It was translated into English by Lewis Carroll's relative Menella Bute Smedley in 1846, many years before the appearance of the Alice books. English computer scientist and historian Sean B. Palmer notes a possible Shakespearean source. ^[27]
The inspiration for the Jabberwock allegedly came from a tree in the gardens of Christ Church, Oxford, where Carroll was a mathematician (under his real name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). The tree in question is large and ancient with many sprawling, twisted branches somewhat suggestive of tentacles, or the Hydra of Greek mythology.
Although the poem contains many nonsensical words, its ''structure'' is perfectly consistent with classic English poetry. The sentence structure is accurate (another aspect that has been challenging to reproduce in other languages), the poetic forms are observed (e.g. quatrain verse, rhymed, iambic meter), and a "story" is somewhat discernible in the flow of events. According to Alice in ''Through the Looking Glass'', "Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas – only I don't exactly know what they are!"

Translations

"Jabberwocky" has become famous around the world, with translations into many languages [1]. The task of translation is the more notable and difficult because many of the principal words of the poem were simply made up by Carroll, having had no previous meaning. Translators have generally dealt with these words by inventing words of their own. Sometimes these are similar in spelling or sound to Carroll's words while respecting the morphology of the language to be translated into. For example in Frank L. Warrin's French translation below "'Twas brillig" is translated as "Il brilgue". In cases like this both the original and the invented words may echo actual words in the lexicon, but not necessarily ones with similar meanings. Translators have also invented words which draw on root words with meanings similar to the English roots used by Carroll. As Douglas Hofstadter has noted^[28]
the word "slithy" echoes English words including "slimy", "slither", "slippery", "lithe" and "sly". The same French translation uses "lubricilleux" for "slithy", evoking French words like "lubrifier" (to lubricate) to give a similar impression of the meaning of the invented word. It makes a great difference whether the poem is translated in isolation or as part of a translation of the novel. In the latter case the translator must, through Humpty Dumpty, supply explanations of the invented words in the first stanza.

Derivative works

Jabberwocky and the characters featured within has been used in other works since its inception. Notable examples include:

★ Between 1905 and 1907, Chapman Hall published a children's magazine called ''Jabberwock''.

★ In 1943, Henry Kuttner, writing with his wife C. L. Moore as Lewis Padgett, published a science fiction short story called ''Mimsy were the Borogoves'' in the magazine ''Astounding'', which has since been republished in several anthologies. It posits that the poem is actually a communication with hidden meaning from the future. The story was the inspiration for the 2007 film ''The Last Mimzy''.

★ In 1948, the Gaberbocchus Press was founded in London by Stefan and Franciszka Themerson, and named after the Latin for 'Jabberwocky', from a later translation made by Lewis Carroll's uncle, Hassard Dodgson. In 31 years the Gaberbocchus Press published over sixty titles, including works by Alfred Jarry, Kurt Schwitters, Bertrand Russell and the Themersons themselves. Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi became one of the most celebrated plays and was published in many editions.

★ In 1951, noted mystery writer Frederic Brown drew substantively on the poem for the comic mystery novel Night of the Jabberwock, in which the narrator learns that the Alice novels are not fiction but are an encoded report detailing the existence of another plane of reality.

★ In 1962, in his short story "Naudsonce," H. Beam Piper used a blend of the first few lines from "Jabberwocky" and Robert W. Service's "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" as a demonstration to a newly encountered alien race that humans use a spoken language. The contact team member stood before the alien assemblage and solemnly intoned "'Twas brillig and the slithy toves were whooping it up in the Malemute Saloon, and the kid that handled the music box did gyre and gimble in the wabe, and back of the bar in a solo game all mimsy were the borogoves, and the mome raths outgabe the lady that's known as Lou."

★ In 1967, a relatively obscure psychedelic rock band called Frumious Bandersnatch was formed in San Francisco in the "second wave" of psychedelic rock bands in the Bay Area. A collection of their music was issued on Ace Records/Big Beat Records in 1996.

★ In 1971, film director Jan Švankmajer made a 14 minute short film called "Jabberwocky" (Žvahlav aneb šaticky Slaměného Huberta) which features the whole poem. As the poem is read out, various toys come to life, dancing around. The only thing that seems to stop the toys is a black cat that appears. This animation film is available on the DVD ''Cinema 16: European Short Films''.

★ In 1977, Terry Gilliam directed a movie called ''Jabberwocky''. A poster for the movie featured a colorized version of the Jabberwocky illustration, and the first stanza of the poem is recited at the start of the film. The movie's plot very loosely resembles that of the poem.

★ John Ringo's 2007 military science fiction novel, Vorpal Blade, published by Baen Books details the flight of humanity's first starship, known as the Vorpal Blade. Other Lewis Carrol references related to this series are the book's predecessor Through the Looking Glass and the upcoming sequel Manxhome Foe.

Reception of Poem

Jabberwocky was meant by Carroll as a parody designed to show how not to write a poem ^[29]. The poem has since transcended Carroll's purpose, becoming now the subject of serious study. This transformation of perception was in a large part predicted by Gilbert K. Chesterton ^[30]. According to Chesterton and Green, among others, the original purpose of Jabberwocky was to satirize pretentious poetry and ignorant literary critics, but has itself been the subject of pedestrian translations and explanations as well as being incorporated into classroom learning. Chesterton wrote in 1932,
:''"Poor, poor, little Alice! She has not only been caught and made to do lessons; she has been forced to inflict lessons on others".''
In the following years, individuals have taken to analyzing Carroll's nonsense words and seriously interpreting his instructions on the "correct" pronunciation of these words.

The Reach of the Poem

Since its creation, Jabberwocky has taken on some qualities of a folkloric myth or legend. The creatures and characters of the poem are often referenced or cited in popular culture, leading to many appearances in many mediums since its writing. From the Muppets[2] to Batman and rock bands, the poem continues to be invoked.
Due to its popularity as a poem, a multitude of role-play and video games have used the artifacts and characters of the poem in their respective universes. In particular, the ''"vorpal swords"'' or ''"vorpal blades"'' are used in Dungeons and Dragons and numerous computer games and video games. The Jabberwock monster appears in many computer games. The status as a popular 'monster' that can be killed by a 'special' weapon is very similar to many plots of current day video games and thus lends itself to inclusion.
Jabberwocky has been the source of countless parodies and tributes. In most cases the writers simply change the nonsense words into words relating to the parodied subject (e.g. Frank Jacobs's "Lewis Carroll as a TV Critic" in ''For Better or Verse''). Other writers use the poem as a poetic form, much like a sonnet, and create their own nonsense words and glossaries (e.g. "Strunklemiss" by S.K. Azoulay).
Games based around this poem are also popular in the classroom. One activity that can be used to teach is to take all the nonsense words out and ask students to guess what they mean.

See also

★ Works influenced by Alice in Wonderland

★ Jabberwacky, a chatty Artificial Intelligence with a touch of wockiness

Notes

1. From The Hunting of the Snark
2. Defined by Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass.
3. From the preface to ''The Hunting of the Snark''.
4. Defined by Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass.
5. According to Mischmasch, it is derived from the verb to ''bryl'' or ''broil''.
6. According to Carroll in a letter. (''Burble'' is also an actual word, circa 1303, meaning to form bubbles as in boiling water.)
7. Defined by Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass.
8. Definition from Oxford English Dictionary, credited to Lewis Carroll.
9. From the preface to ''The Hunting of the Snark''.
10. Definition from Oxford English Dictionary, credited to Lewis Carroll.
11. Defined by Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass.
12. Defined by Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass.
13. ''Gyre'' is an actual word, circa 1566, meaning a circular or spiral motion or form; especially a giant circular oceanic surface current.
14. From The Hunting of the Snark
15. Defined by Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass.
16. Defined by Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass.
17. Defined by Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass.
18. Humpty Dumpty says "outgribing" when explaining the meaning. Outgrabe is, in actual fact, the past tense; the present tense is outgribe.
19. Defined by Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass.
20. Defined by Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass.
21. From the preface to ''The Hunting of the Snark''.
22. Defined by Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass.
23. From the preface to ''The Hunting of the Snark''.
24. According to Carroll in a letter.
25. Defined by Humpty Dumpty in Through the Looking Glass.
26. The North East England History Pages. Accessed 2007-07-22.
27. Palmer, Sean B. Miscoranda: "Origins of Jabberwocky''
28. Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, , Douglas R., Hofstadter, , 1980, ISBN 0-394-74502-7
29. ''Jabberwocky, and other parodies'', in Roger Lancelyn Green: ''The Lewis Carroll Handbook'', Dawson of Pall Mall, London 1970
30. G.K. Chesterton: ''Lewis Carroll'', in ''A Handful of Authors'', ed. by Dorothy Collins, Sheed and Ward, London 1953

External links

★ More about the origins and original meanings of the poem

★

★ Character description of the Jabberwock