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"Jabberwocky" is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass, the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865).
Jan 22, 2016 · Although the poem was first published in Lewis Carroll ‘s novel Through the Looking Glass in 1871, the first stanza was actually written and printed by Carroll in 1855 in the little periodical Mischmasch, which Carroll (real name Charles Dodgson) compiled to entertain his family.
"Jabberwocky" is a ballad by the English writer Lewis Carroll. The poem originally appeared in Carroll's 1871 novel Through the Looking Glass (the sequel to the famous Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ).
- Summary
- Poetic Techniques
- Nonsense Writing
- Analysis, Stanza by Stanza
- Context
The poem begins with the speakerusing strange and unknown words to describe a scene. There are “toves,” “borogroves” and “raths”. These things move within the landscape in different ways, and make different noises. They are part of a world that is wholly separate from our own. In the next lines, a speaker jumps into the narrative and tells his son ...
Carroll also makes use of a number of other poetic techniques. These include alliteration, enjambment, assonance, and consonance. The first, alliteration, occurs when words are used in succession, or at least appear close together, and begin with the same letter. For example, in the first stanza“gyre” and “gimble,” and “claws” and “catch” in the se...
Lewis Carroll’s ‘Jabberwocky’ has been categorized as part of a broader category of literature known as nonsense writing, and more directly nonsense verse. The form of writing originated from traditional nursery rhymes and games but was then evolved by writers such as Edward Lear and was later popularized by Lewis Carroll. Largely, this kind of wri...
Stanza Two
The second stanza is a little less confusing but is still speaking about a world very different from our own. A speaker jumps into the narrative and tells his son to look out for the “Jabberwock”. The Jabberwock is the most important creature in the poem, but again, Carroll does not give enough context clues, at first anyway to know what exactly it is. All a reader knows is that it has “ jaws that bite [and]… claws that catch!” It is obviously something scary and darkens the overall tone of t...
Stanza Three
In the third stanza, the speaker describes how “he,” presumably the son mentioned in the previous lines, is going to go hunt these creatures. He is seeking them out with his “vorpal sword” in hand. The word “vorpal” has never been properly defined, but it is obviously a modifier to the word “sword,” defining what kind of sword it is and/or what it can do. The son spent a long time looking for the Jabberwocky. He is a “maxome foe,” suggesting the Jabberwocky is the ultimate, most dangerous of...
Stanza Four
All of a sudden, as the “uffish” perhaps meaning simple or frustrated “thoughts” are in his head, the “Jabberwock” is there. He has flaming eyes that speak to the intimidating nature of the creature and its inherent danger. The symbolof fire makes the Jabberwock seem evil and something that should be fought back against. The speaker also says that the Jabberwock moved “whiffling”. This likely means fast, and sounds somewhat onomatopoeic, as if mimicking the sound of air rushing past a surface...
The poem was included in Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. It was Alice who found the poem in a nonsensical book that turned out to be written backward. She held the pages up to a mirror and the reflected image was the poem ‘Jabberwocky’.
- Female
- October 9, 1995
- Poetry Analyst And Editor
The curious case of Livingstone - whose ceremonial return to England and the Royal Geographical Society of London, embalmed in a cask of rum, was totally ignored/shunned by Lewis Carroll, has been analysed at length elsewhere (Dyer, 2016, Ch.11, n.20, pp. 325-28, annotation on "African").
“Jabberwocky” is a mock-serious poem that was first published as a part of Lewis Carroll’s 1871 children’s book, Through the Looking-Glass. However, the poem’s joyfully nonsensical language has given it a life of its own that goes far beyond the book.
Nov 7, 2021 · Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” is a nonsensical poem about the death of a monster known as “the Jabberwock.” Nonsense verse is a type of nonsense poetry that features strong prosodic components, such as rhythm and rhyme. It uses nonsensical writing methods and has a whimsical and hilarious tone.
