"JABBERWOCKY" by Lewis Carroll
'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 wiffling 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!
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.
Who Lewis Carroll?
Here, we share information about Lewis Carroll. Lewis Carroll or real name is Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. Born on 27 January in Daresbury, Cheshire, England and death on 14 January 1898. He is British author, mathematician and photographer. The famous writings are "Alice's Adventure in Wonderland" and its sequal "Through the Looking-Glass" as well as the comic poem "The Hunting of the Snark".
Content and Message
The poem “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll was published in 1855 in a comic-magazine. It tells the story a fantasy-story about a boy, who went into the forest to find the green pigs, that ran away from home. Before, his father advised him to beware of the Jabberwocky and other frightening creatures, but all of a sudden the boy stood in front of the beast and killed it honorable. Back home he arrived as a hero with the Jabberwocky-head in his back.
The use of own-invented-words creates a humorous atmosphere which reminds of a typical fairytale. Maybe the author wrote this poem in a none-sense way to enlarge or inspire the usual poem styles. Obviously Carroll plays a lot with language. Most noticeable are the strange words which are of Carroll's own invention. Concerning a topic or a didactic purpose, there are no clear aspects that can be recognized.
Analysis
The poem is particularly interesting because although it contains many nonsensical words, the structure is perfectly consistent with classic English poetry. With regard to the fact that it is a telling story, it can be classified as a ballad. The sentence structure is accurate and the rhyme scheme is regularly cross rhyme (a,b,a,b). Moreover this poem contains seven four-lined stanzas. The first one is repeated at the end. This stanza is like a description of the surrounding area, but it is hard to understand because of the numerous use of own-invented words.
The story is told by a narrator, but in the second and sixth stanza the narration is interrupted by a literal speech by the father. This intensifies the tension and the threat by the Jabberwocky. Concerning the metaphors, many people discussed in the internet about the meaning of various words. For example the “Tumtum tree” where the boy arrested just about to attack the monster, could also be turned around, so it becomes the Mutmut tree, that made him strong.
Vocabulary + Invented Words
First, we have to say that the translation of nonsense poems is very complex, because when there are no explicit meanings they can't be translated. Another difficulty is the feeling that the author creates, it would not be the same if it is translated into another language.
Another interesting feature to look more closely at is the combination of two existing words. Carroll merged for example “miserable” with “flimsy” and created the new word “mimsy”.