Jabberwocky
‘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.
*
Hello Friends —
Why would I send you a poem that every last one of you is already familiar with? Because some poems ought to be read, aloud, at least once a year — You can think of this practice as akin to the Queen’s practice of believing as many as six impossible things before breakfast each morning. I challenge you to read this poem ALOUD to someone else today.
Have you ever thought about what it would mean to translate “Jabberwocky” into another language? Keith Lim has compiled a wonderful collection of “Jabberwocky” translations online. If you shy away from reading this poem aloud because you don’t know how to pronounce half of the words, you can also find Carroll’s own pronunciation guide reproduced on Keith’s site (under “Explanations”). If you shy away from reading this poem aloud because you don’t know what half of the words mean, I refer you to Humpty Dumpty (who can explain all the poems that ever were invented — and a good many that haven’t been invented just yet): “When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.” In order to read “Jabberwocky” aloud, you simply have to make choosing what you mean each of the poet’s words to mean a more conscious act.
Today’s poem, “Jabberwocky,” from Through the Looking Glass (1872) by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), is dedicated in loving memory to Edgar Lewis (yes, named for Poe and Carroll) — a giant pet white rabbit who hopped freely around on our front lawn for a decade’s worth of easters, entertaining countless neighboring children who finally got to meet the real easter bunny.
April is National Poetry Month, and I am celebrating by emailing out my own eclectic selection of one poem per day for the duration of the month. If you wish to be unsubscribed from this Poem-a-Day email list at any time, please reply to this email with a friendly unsubscribe request (preferably in heroic couplet form). You may also request to add a consenting friend to the list, or even nominate a poem.
To learn more about National Poetry Month, or to subscribe to a more official-like Poem-a-Day list, visit www.poets.org.
Enjoy.
Ellen
P.S. Frabjous Birthday, Jane Nevins!
“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll was featured again for Poem-a-Day April 19, 2010.