The JabberwockybyLewis 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 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.
RECITATION VIDEOS:
Poetry Out Loud 2010
Funny version with Mime
I can't stop now!
Scottish brogue version (Jonah!)
You HAVE to watch and listen to this one!
Ms Albury, the musical director did a GREAT job bringing out the best in these talented kiddos! Wow!
feel free to use the extra info for padding your introduction and conclusion if it is congruous
• --> Lewis Carroll (wrote in 1871)
• --> Jabberwocky was a part of Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There (Alice in Wonderland)
• --> Nonsense words, portmanteau <-- similar to Dr. Seuss (examples?)
• --> Some words now in dictionary! <-- similar to Shakespeare (get examples)
• --> *Specific words . . . . . .
• --> History of nonsense stories (look up)
http://www.floridarti.usf.edu/resources/pl_modules/intensive_interventions/day2/5.%20Jabberwocky%20Vocabulary.pdf
• --> Why is this an appealing story & poem for both children and adults? Analysis of Carroll's "Jabberwocky"
• --> What is the Jabberwocky? What does it represent? What other beasts is it like? What does it symbolize?
• --> Which of the "Seven Basic Plots" is Jabberwocky?
Why might it be compared to Beowulf, David and Goliath, or Lord of the Rings? https://interestingliterature.com/2016/01/22/a-short-analysis-of-jabberwocky-by-lewis-carroll/
• --> A discussion of the topic clincher that Lewis uses in the book. Is it effective. Why? or why not? What does it mean?
• --> How many nonsense words are in the book? Pick one or two and describe them in detail.
*A portmanteau word is "a word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two different words." A portmanteau is "a case used in journeying for containing clothing," and comes from the French porter, "to carry," plus manteau, "cloak." Carroll coined portmanteau word in 1882 based on the idea of "two meanings packed up into one word," says the Online Etymology Dictionary.
• --> Your interpretation of the poem
• --> Your opinions (based on the poem!) about the setting, the characters, the motivation to kill the Jabberwock, etc.
1 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
2 Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
3 All mimsy were the borogoves,
4 And the mome raths outgrabe.
5 "Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
6 The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
7 Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
8 The frumious Bandersnatch!"
9 He took his vorpal sword in hand:
10 Long time the manxome foe he sought --
11 So rested he by the Tumtum tree.
12 And stood awhile in thought.
13 And as in uffish thought he stood,
14 The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
15 Came wiffling through the tulgey wood,
16 And burbled as it came!
17 One, two! One, two! And through and through
18 The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
19 He left it dead, and with its head
20 He went galumphing back.
21 "And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
22 Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
23 O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
24 He chortled in his joy.
25 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
26 Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
27 All mimsy were the borogoves,
28 And the mome raths outgrabe.
"It seems very pretty," she said when she
had finished it, "but it's rather hard to under
stand!" (You see she didn't like to confess, even
to herself, that she couldn't make it out at all.)
"Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas
-- only I don't exactly know what they are!
However, somebody killed something: that's clear,
at any rate --"
.... [pp. 126-29] "You seem very clever at explaining words,
Sir," said Alice. "Would you kindly tell me the
meaning of the poem called `Jabberwocky'?"
"Let's hear it," said Humpty Dumpty. "I
can explain all the poems that ever were in
vented -- and a good many that haven't been
invented just yet."
This sounded very hopeful, so Alice repeated
the first verse:
"'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe."
"That's enough to begin with," Humpty
Dumpty interrupted; "there are plenty of hard
words there. `Brillig' means four o'clock in the
afternoon -- the time when you begin broiling
things for dinner."
"That'll do very well," said Alice; "and
`slithy'?"
"Well, `slithy' means `lithe and slimy.'
`Lithe' is the same as `active.' You see it's
like a portmanteau -- there are two meanings
packed up into one word."
"I see it now," Alice remarked thoughtfully:
"and what are `toves'?"
"Well, `toves' are something like badgers --
they're something like lizards -- and they're
something like corkscrews."
"They must be very curious-looking creatures."
"They are that," said Humpty Dumpty:
"also they make their nests under sun-dials --
also they live on cheese."
"And what's to `gyre' and to `gimble'?"
"To `gyre' is to go round and round like
a gyroscope. To `gimble' is to make holes like
a gimlet."
"And `the wabe' is the grass-plot round a
sundial, I suppose?" said Alice, surprised at her own ingenuity.
"Of course it is. It's called `wabe,' you
know, because it goes a long way before it,
and a long way behind it -- --"
"And a long way beyond it on each side,"
added Alice.
"Exactly so. Well, then, `mimsy' is `flimsy and miser
able' (there's another portmanteau for
you). And a borogove is a thin, shabby-looking
bird with its feathers sticking out all round --
something like a live mop."
"And then `mome raths'?" said Alice.
"I'm afraid I'm giving you a great deal of trouble."
"Well, a `rath' is a sort of green pig: but
`mome' I'm not certain about. I think it's
short for `from home' -- meaning that they'd
lost their way, you know."
"And what does `outgrabe' mean?"
"Well, `outgribing' is something between
bellowing and whistling, with a kind of sneeze
in the middle: however, you'll hear it done
maybe -- down in the wood yonder -- and
when you've once heard it you'll be quite
content. Who's been repeating all that hard
stuff to you?"
- Original Text: Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass, and what Alice Found There (London: Macmillan and Co., 1872): 21-24. Brabant Carroll Collection C37 T476 1872 copy 3. Fisher Rare Book Library.
- First Publication Date: 1855.
- Representative Poetry On-line: Editor, I. Lancashire; Publisher, Web Development Group, Inf. Tech. Services, Univ. of Toronto Lib.
- Edition: RPO 1998. © I. Lancashire, Dept. of English (Univ. of Toronto), and Univ. of Toronto Press 1998.
