Download
1 / 18
E N D
Jabberwocky Alec Tokar Brian Tomajko
'Twasbrillig, and the slithytovesDid gyre and gimble in the wabe;All mimsy were the borogoves,And the momerathsoutgrabe."Beware the Jabberwock, my son The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumiousBandersnatch!"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.'Twasbrillig, and the slithytovesDid gyre and gimble in the wabe;All mimsy were the borogoves,And the momerathsoutgrabe.
When Lewis Carroll wrote the poem, Jabberwocky, he used many different many nonsense words or phrases. The animals, including the Jabberwocky, are all made up and nonsense.
'Twasbrillig, and the slithytovesDid gyre and gimble in the wabe. • The first stanza of the poem can be interpreted in many different ways. This is because many of the words are nonsense. But, there is one documented explanation. It is done through the character Humpty Dumpty. He gives some of the meanings behind the nonsense words such as brillig. Brillig means around 4 in the afternoon because that’s when the boiling is done for dinner. Slithy is a mix between lithe and slimy. A wabe is a glasspot surrounding a sun-dial. Toves are some kind of awkward lizard-badger. And an outgrabe is a combination whistling and bellowing with a sneeze.
All mimsy were the borogoves,And the momerathsoutgrabe. • Mimsy is probably a word used to describe something that is whimsy or in this case, whimsical. • Borogoves could be a type of tree, or grove. But with all the nonsense words in the story, it could mean anything else, such as a bird or other animal. • Outgrabe could be just changing “grabbing out” so that it fits the poem.
Beware the Jabberwock, my son The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! • Now the poem has humans talking about the Jabberwocky, warning their sons of his claws and bite.
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumiousBandersnatch!“ • There is no written documentation on what a jubjub or bandersnatch actually is or even a clue onto what it could look like. The appearance of these two is completely up to the reader.
He took his vorpal sword in hand; Long time the manxome foe he sought. Now the son is going hunting for the creatures above and using the worpal sword. • Now we see why there was a warning in the first place. Apparently, the son is going hunting for these creatures. Maybe they are disturbing the otherwise peaceful wood.
So rested he by the Tumtum tree, And stood awhile in thought • Another form of nonsense words is the Tumtum tree. And now he is sitting under the tree thinking. • We might not know what a Tumtum tree is, but the rest of these lines are very clear. • Our hero has been seeking his foes for a while, and is now taking a break. • So he rests by the tree, and loses himself thinking for a little while.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,The Jabberwocky, with eyes of flame • Uffish is a nonsense word and there is no way to tell excatly what it means. But the eyes of flame desribes the eyes of the Jabberwocky. • The flame detail also cements the Jabberwock's place in the story as villain. If you think about it, the biggest good vs. evil story we have is that between Heaven and Hell. And what's Hell made of? Fire.
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, And burbled as it came! • The Jabberwocky is now coming throught the woods • Here comes the monster – and our mystery verb is whiffling. What could it mean? It sounds a bit like whistling, but the last time we checked, dragon-ish creatures didn't whistle while they attacked you. But! Whistling can also mean "to move very fast," which is much more likely.
One, two! One, two! And through and through The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! • These are straight action lines here. And it's exciting, hence all the exclamation points. This is high adventure, told in an excited manner. • These hearty motion words and onomatopoeia give these lines a very action-movie feel to them. The plot is rushing past us, and all we see is a blur of motion, and a flickering blade. All we hear is the sound of metal meeting flesh.
He left it dead, and with its head He went galumphing back. • Why take the head? Well, this is a tradition that extends from ancient to modern times. Certainly we've all seen trophy deer/moose/bear heads on hunting cabin walls, and this is probably no different. It's proof that the animal has been conquered, and a memento for a job well done
"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! • The setting has changed again. • Now the son is back at home, and the parental figure is speaking again. • The Parents are cherishing the boy and celebrating that he had slain the mighty creature
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" He chortled in his joy. • Frabjous sounds a whole lot like fabulous, doesn't it? Maybe a combination of fabulous and joyous, just to get that "j" sound in there. And also because we know by this point that Carroll does love combining words.
'Twasbrillig, and the slithytovesDid gyre and gimble in the wabe;All mimsy were the borogoves,And the momerathsoutgrabe.
