“Jabbberwocky” by Lewis Carroll

Cassity, Jake
Major Poetry Paper
March 7, 2011
HU142-01
Word Count: 745
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The best poem from the reading is “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll. It is a

ridiculous poem written with the author’s own invented words to make the poem work.

This fantasy poem was written as a children’s poem about a boy who slayed the

Jabberwock in this exciting and mythical adventure. I like this poem the most because it

is the most creative. I love this kind of poetry that combines myth and creativity. It is

also very amazing that this poem was written in the mid 1800’s and is still a classic

today. The poem has many poetical devices including rhetorical devices, theme, myth,

and many others.

The poem “Jabberwocky” is full of imagery. In the first two lines alone, the poem

sets the time, place, and the image. “‘Twas brillig,…” means that it is about four o’clock

and that the people of the time would start to broil things for dinner. The phrase, “slithy

toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe.” explains that a creature, the “tove”, a badger-

like creature that spends its time in the grass around a sundial. The whole poem refers

to several monstrous creatures that the main character is told to be aware of. There are

also several rhetorical devices in the poem “Jabberwocky”. The words “gimble” and

“mimsy” from lines two and three respectively show a form of assonance from the –im-

in the words. They both have the same vowel sounds. The phrase “snicker-snack!” is a

form of onomatopoeia. It resembles the sound of the sword as it hits the “Jabberwock”.

The word vorpal is one of the many words that Lewis Carroll created himself. It

describes the sword in line nine as a deadly sword. There is a metaphor in the fourth

stanza. It is the phrase, “The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, came whiffling through

the tulgey wood…” The metaphor is the “Jabberwock’s eyes of flame”. Obviously, eyes

cannot be made of flames. This metaphor implies that the Jabberwock showed anger
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and fierceness. There is also an example of personification in stanza two. The example

is of the “claws that catch”. Catching is seen as an object that is thrown at someone and

they get a hold of it by catching it. Claws normally grab but do not catch. The poem,

“Jabberwocky” has many poetical devices.

The theme of “Jabberwocky” is that the reader can escape the details of reality

and explore the world of imagination. The whole poem has made up creatures and

words, has adventure and glory, and is very exciting. Reading this poem can make

anyone forget about their worries and engulf them in adventure and fantasy. Lewis

Carroll is great at writing with his imagination. He wrote this and other stories to reveal

to the readers that stories do not have to retell real stories to convey a message, but

can be told in the form of imagination and creativity. The poem “Jabberwocky” has

mythical creatures. The “Jabberwock”, “Jubjub bird”, “toves”, “raths”, and the

“Bandersnatch” are all a figment of the imagination of the author, Lewis Carroll. The

poem is full of rhyme. Lewis Carroll’s use of creating his own words helped with rhyming

his poem. “Jabberwock” defies any logic in literature and that is why it is a classic poem.

The speaker of the poem is the father of the boy that slayed the “Jabberwock”.

The speaker is speaking to the little boy. The situation is that the little boy is out in the

wilderness and slays the “Jabberwock”. At first, the speaker’s tone is cautious as he

warns the child of the dangers of the creatures out in the world. After the boy slays the

“Jabberwock”, the speaker’s tone changes to joy and wonder. The words that Lewis

Carroll chose to represent certain meanings are important because they add to the

wonder and excitement of the story. Overall, this poem is very exciting to read.

The “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll is a fantasy poem that is full of poetical

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devices. This mid 1800’s poem is full of myth and creativity. It is fun to read and has

been remade in several modern recreations. This kind of poetry is the best because it is

not boring to read. Poetry that is written by some depressed poet that is writing about

the dark realities of life is boring. The best poetry is written with imagination. That is why

the poem, “Jabberwocky”, by Lewis Carroll is the best poem from the reading.