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Jabberwocky and Other Nonsense: Collected Poems
Carefully chosen collection contains 34 of Carroll's most appealing verses — nonsense verse, parodies, burlesques, more — including such unforgettable pieces as "The Walrus and the Carpenter," "The Mock Turtle's Song," and "Father William," as well as such lesser-known gems as "My Fancy," "A Sea Dirge," and many others.
418 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1964
About the author
Lewis Carroll
4,673 books7,933 followersThe Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer.
His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass as well as the poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky", all considered to be within the genre of literary nonsense.
Oxford scholar, Church of England Deacon, University Lecturer in Mathematics and Logic, academic author of learned theses, gifted pioneer of portrait photography, colourful writer of imaginative genius and yet a shy and pedantic man, Lewis Carroll stands pre-eminent in the pantheon of inventive literary geniuses.
He also has works published under his real name.
His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass as well as the poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky", all considered to be within the genre of literary nonsense.
Oxford scholar, Church of England Deacon, University Lecturer in Mathematics and Logic, academic author of learned theses, gifted pioneer of portrait photography, colourful writer of imaginative genius and yet a shy and pedantic man, Lewis Carroll stands pre-eminent in the pantheon of inventive literary geniuses.
He also has works published under his real name.
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March 31, 2022
my becoming-a-genius project, part 21!
the background:
i have decided to become a genius.
to accomplish this, i'm going to work my way through the collected stories of various authors, reading + reviewing 1 story every day until i get bored / lose every single follower / am struck down by a vengeful deity.
my favorite book on earth is alice's adventures in wonderland, and my favorite editions on earth are the penguin clothbound classics, so this installment seems like a match made in heaven.
emphasis on seems.
regardless, more books should add "and other nonsense" to the end of their titles.
PROJECT 1: THE COMPLETE STORIES BY FLANNERY O'CONNOR
PROJECT 2: HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES BY CARMEN MARIA MACHADO
PROJECT 3: 18 BEST STORIES BY EDGAR ALLAN POE
PROJECT 4: THE LOTTERY AND OTHER STORIES BY SHIRLEY JACKSON
PROJECT 5: HOW LONG 'TIL BLACK FUTURE MONTH? BY N.K. JEMISIN
PROJECT 6: THE SHORT STORIES OF OSCAR WILDE BY OSCAR WILDE
PROJECT 7: THE BLUE FAIRY BOOK BY ANDREW LANG
PROJECT 8: GRAND UNION: STORIES BY ZADIE SMITH
PROJECT 9: THE BEST OF ROALD DAHL BY ROALD DAHL
PROJECT 10: LOVE AND FREINDSHIP BY JANE AUSTEN
PROJECT 11: HOMESICK FOR ANOTHER WORLD BY OTTESSA MOSHFEGH
PROJECT 12: BAD FEMINIST BY ROXANE GAY
PROJECT 12.5: DIFFICULT WOMEN BY ROXANE GAY
PROJECT 13: THE SHORT NOVELS OF JOHN STEINBECK
PROJECT 14: FIRST PERSON SINGULAR BY HARUKI MURAKAMI
PROJECT 15: THE ORIGINAL FOLK AND FAIRY TALES OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM
PROJECT 16: A MANUAL FOR CLEANING WOMEN BY LUCIA BERLIN
PROJECT 17: SELECTED STORIES OF PHILIP K. DICK
PROJECT 18: HIGH LONESOME: SELECTED STORIES BY JOYCE CAROL OATES
PROJECT 19: THE SHORT STORIES OF ANTON CHEKHOV
PROJECT 20: COLLECTED STORIES OF COLETTE
PROJECT 21: JABBERWOCKY AND OTHER NONSENSE: COLLECTED POEMS BY LEWIS CARROLL
DAY 1: USEFUL AND INSTRUCTIVE POETRY
awesome. i love to learn, and i imagine i love to learn even more if i'm learning in the style of a 19th century tween reading a weird magazine.
these all come with morals which is fun. more things should be more straightforward in my opinion. and sometimes the morals are just random phrases, like, "a present from Croft." and you're like, okay, i mean i guess he did warn me this was going to be nonsense.
add one that's just making fun of shakespeare and we're in for quite a ride.
rating: 3.5
DAY 2: THE RECTORY MAGAZINE
tiny chunk today, which is ideal as i am working with a tiny chunk of time.
very funny to picture the churchgoers picking up the rectory magazine expecting, like, jesus stuff, and just..."ugh. rector charles is writing his weird poems again."
rating: 3.5
DAY 3: THE RECTORY UMBRELLA
okay, so i missed a couple days. a few, even. see the WHOLE OTHER PROJECT I'M DOING SIMULTANEOUSLY for my various excuses.
now we are arriving at the actual nonsense, which for right now is just real words spelled weird.
there are also footnotes now which are very funny. i think if lewis carroll absolutely had to be okay with having his dumb silly poems explained, he would've been pleased to know the explanations were goofy.
rating: 3.5
DAY 4: MISCHMASCH
cutest funnest name.
realizing today is world poetry day, and i should have just pretended i skipped former days in order to celebrate as thoroughly as possible. oh well.
a poem in this has the word "muggle" in it. i am suing joanne rowling for every penny she is worth.
ah the first stanza of jabberwocky is in here! is there a better nonsense word in history than "mimsy"? doubtful.
rating: 3.5
DAY 5: OTHER EARLY VERSE
mercifully, all three of these are relatively short. i don't deserve this but i do need it. like batman, or reverse batman, i can't remember.
i am now also eating cake and drinking tea while reading, and feeling very alice-like.
"Noodle dumb / Has a noodle-head / I hate such noodles, I do." what a way with words. gotta love poetry.
and the last poem is about how cops are terrible at their jobs. lewis carroll said ACAB.
rating: 3.5
DAY 6: ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!
i f*ckin' love the poetry from alice. for years i had the row row row your boat mnemonic poem memorized and i would doodle it in the margins of my notes in classes, because i am very cool and normal.
that one is not in this section since it's from through the looking-glass, but this ruled all the same.
i'm so far past due for a reread.
rating: 5
DAY 7: PHANTASMAGORIA
today's section is over 100 pages long and that's not what any of this is about. desperate times, desperate measures: we're dividing willy-nilly again.
this poem is a little ghost postulating on the rules of the ghost lifestyle and as such i love it.
rating: 4
DAY 8: ...AND OTHER POEMS
in case you were wondering if i would have to endure a thousand-page long political poem before getting to part 2 of ghost antics: yes, and are you psychic?
AND THEN IT WAS ULTIMATELY CORNY ANGEL STUFF. GOD.
at least we got a little liddell sisters mention. hehe. little liddell.
didn't have much fun with this one today. even if there WAS a christmas poem. these aren't nonsense, they're just cheesy.
rating: 2, maybe 2.5
DAY 9: PUZZLES FROM WONDERLAND
oh hell yeah.
today's set is like 4 pages long and wonderlandy in nature. a dream.
rating: 4
DAY 10: THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE
YAAAAAAASSSSSS.
so many heavy hitters here. the aforementioned fav acrostic. tweedle dee and tweedle dum. the titular jabberwocky. walrus and carpenter feat those super cute oysters.
5 stars exponentially!!!
rating: 5
DAY 11: OXFORD POEMS, WITH SOME MEMORIA TECHNICA
well this sounds like a casual chill vibe. a fun time. the poetry equivalent of a tropical vacation themed darty thrown by a frat.
rating: 3
DAY 12: THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK
i am having trouble focusing today (sleepiness reasons) so i'm reading this out loud to myself like i am my own small child.
can't tell if this poem is better than usual or if reading it aloud is just an exceptional idea but i'm having a blast either way.
rating: 4
DAY 13: POEMS FOR FRIENDS, INCLUDING ACROSTICS, RIDDLES, 'CHARADES,' AND A CIPHER-POEM
goddamn i hate riddles so much. they make me feel stupid constantly, and i build my life around opportunities to feel smart.
when i was a camp counselor during high school summers, i once had a camper whose entire personality was riddles and i truly had to bite my tongue not to be some weird teenager snapping on a kid. a bit of an alternate villain origin story.
let's see how this goes.
i am firmly on the "don't judge historical figures by the socio-moral standards of today" side of things, but even i wish that bachelors hadn't been on childcare duty in the nineteenth century. lewis carroll wrote too many poems to and about little girls for my reading comfort, i'll say.
not creepy. just annoying and boring.
and i still have no idea what a double-acrostic is.
rating: 2
DAY 14: SYLVIE AND BRUNO AND SYLVIE AND BRUNO CONCLUDED
these are referenced a sh*t ton in the annotated alice, so i've always kinda meant to read them. let's see how it goes.
well, now i've read all of the non-prose parts of lewis carroll's third-most and fourth-most seminal works. that's something.
rating: 3
DAY 15: LATE COLLECTIONS
just a handful more of the impenetrable confusing double acrostics written for specific small children to take us out.
rating: 3
OVERALL
lewis carroll has always been more of a one-off god-level artist of my heart than a favorite author, and reading this collection didn't change that perception for me, but it was still good to discover!
and an important reminder that i have gone far too long without reading alice.
rating: 3
the background:
i have decided to become a genius.
to accomplish this, i'm going to work my way through the collected stories of various authors, reading + reviewing 1 story every day until i get bored / lose every single follower / am struck down by a vengeful deity.
my favorite book on earth is alice's adventures in wonderland, and my favorite editions on earth are the penguin clothbound classics, so this installment seems like a match made in heaven.
emphasis on seems.
regardless, more books should add "and other nonsense" to the end of their titles.
PROJECT 1: THE COMPLETE STORIES BY FLANNERY O'CONNOR
PROJECT 2: HER BODY AND OTHER PARTIES BY CARMEN MARIA MACHADO
PROJECT 3: 18 BEST STORIES BY EDGAR ALLAN POE
PROJECT 4: THE LOTTERY AND OTHER STORIES BY SHIRLEY JACKSON
PROJECT 5: HOW LONG 'TIL BLACK FUTURE MONTH? BY N.K. JEMISIN
PROJECT 6: THE SHORT STORIES OF OSCAR WILDE BY OSCAR WILDE
PROJECT 7: THE BLUE FAIRY BOOK BY ANDREW LANG
PROJECT 8: GRAND UNION: STORIES BY ZADIE SMITH
PROJECT 9: THE BEST OF ROALD DAHL BY ROALD DAHL
PROJECT 10: LOVE AND FREINDSHIP BY JANE AUSTEN
PROJECT 11: HOMESICK FOR ANOTHER WORLD BY OTTESSA MOSHFEGH
PROJECT 12: BAD FEMINIST BY ROXANE GAY
PROJECT 12.5: DIFFICULT WOMEN BY ROXANE GAY
PROJECT 13: THE SHORT NOVELS OF JOHN STEINBECK
PROJECT 14: FIRST PERSON SINGULAR BY HARUKI MURAKAMI
PROJECT 15: THE ORIGINAL FOLK AND FAIRY TALES OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM
PROJECT 16: A MANUAL FOR CLEANING WOMEN BY LUCIA BERLIN
PROJECT 17: SELECTED STORIES OF PHILIP K. DICK
PROJECT 18: HIGH LONESOME: SELECTED STORIES BY JOYCE CAROL OATES
PROJECT 19: THE SHORT STORIES OF ANTON CHEKHOV
PROJECT 20: COLLECTED STORIES OF COLETTE
PROJECT 21: JABBERWOCKY AND OTHER NONSENSE: COLLECTED POEMS BY LEWIS CARROLL
DAY 1: USEFUL AND INSTRUCTIVE POETRY
awesome. i love to learn, and i imagine i love to learn even more if i'm learning in the style of a 19th century tween reading a weird magazine.
these all come with morals which is fun. more things should be more straightforward in my opinion. and sometimes the morals are just random phrases, like, "a present from Croft." and you're like, okay, i mean i guess he did warn me this was going to be nonsense.
add one that's just making fun of shakespeare and we're in for quite a ride.
rating: 3.5
DAY 2: THE RECTORY MAGAZINE
tiny chunk today, which is ideal as i am working with a tiny chunk of time.
very funny to picture the churchgoers picking up the rectory magazine expecting, like, jesus stuff, and just..."ugh. rector charles is writing his weird poems again."
rating: 3.5
DAY 3: THE RECTORY UMBRELLA
okay, so i missed a couple days. a few, even. see the WHOLE OTHER PROJECT I'M DOING SIMULTANEOUSLY for my various excuses.
now we are arriving at the actual nonsense, which for right now is just real words spelled weird.
there are also footnotes now which are very funny. i think if lewis carroll absolutely had to be okay with having his dumb silly poems explained, he would've been pleased to know the explanations were goofy.
rating: 3.5
DAY 4: MISCHMASCH
cutest funnest name.
realizing today is world poetry day, and i should have just pretended i skipped former days in order to celebrate as thoroughly as possible. oh well.
a poem in this has the word "muggle" in it. i am suing joanne rowling for every penny she is worth.
ah the first stanza of jabberwocky is in here! is there a better nonsense word in history than "mimsy"? doubtful.
rating: 3.5
DAY 5: OTHER EARLY VERSE
mercifully, all three of these are relatively short. i don't deserve this but i do need it. like batman, or reverse batman, i can't remember.
i am now also eating cake and drinking tea while reading, and feeling very alice-like.
"Noodle dumb / Has a noodle-head / I hate such noodles, I do." what a way with words. gotta love poetry.
and the last poem is about how cops are terrible at their jobs. lewis carroll said ACAB.
rating: 3.5
DAY 6: ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!
i f*ckin' love the poetry from alice. for years i had the row row row your boat mnemonic poem memorized and i would doodle it in the margins of my notes in classes, because i am very cool and normal.
that one is not in this section since it's from through the looking-glass, but this ruled all the same.
i'm so far past due for a reread.
rating: 5
DAY 7: PHANTASMAGORIA
today's section is over 100 pages long and that's not what any of this is about. desperate times, desperate measures: we're dividing willy-nilly again.
this poem is a little ghost postulating on the rules of the ghost lifestyle and as such i love it.
rating: 4
DAY 8: ...AND OTHER POEMS
in case you were wondering if i would have to endure a thousand-page long political poem before getting to part 2 of ghost antics: yes, and are you psychic?
AND THEN IT WAS ULTIMATELY CORNY ANGEL STUFF. GOD.
at least we got a little liddell sisters mention. hehe. little liddell.
didn't have much fun with this one today. even if there WAS a christmas poem. these aren't nonsense, they're just cheesy.
rating: 2, maybe 2.5
DAY 9: PUZZLES FROM WONDERLAND
oh hell yeah.
today's set is like 4 pages long and wonderlandy in nature. a dream.
rating: 4
DAY 10: THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE
YAAAAAAASSSSSS.
so many heavy hitters here. the aforementioned fav acrostic. tweedle dee and tweedle dum. the titular jabberwocky. walrus and carpenter feat those super cute oysters.
5 stars exponentially!!!
rating: 5
DAY 11: OXFORD POEMS, WITH SOME MEMORIA TECHNICA
well this sounds like a casual chill vibe. a fun time. the poetry equivalent of a tropical vacation themed darty thrown by a frat.
rating: 3
DAY 12: THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK
i am having trouble focusing today (sleepiness reasons) so i'm reading this out loud to myself like i am my own small child.
can't tell if this poem is better than usual or if reading it aloud is just an exceptional idea but i'm having a blast either way.
rating: 4
DAY 13: POEMS FOR FRIENDS, INCLUDING ACROSTICS, RIDDLES, 'CHARADES,' AND A CIPHER-POEM
goddamn i hate riddles so much. they make me feel stupid constantly, and i build my life around opportunities to feel smart.
when i was a camp counselor during high school summers, i once had a camper whose entire personality was riddles and i truly had to bite my tongue not to be some weird teenager snapping on a kid. a bit of an alternate villain origin story.
let's see how this goes.
i am firmly on the "don't judge historical figures by the socio-moral standards of today" side of things, but even i wish that bachelors hadn't been on childcare duty in the nineteenth century. lewis carroll wrote too many poems to and about little girls for my reading comfort, i'll say.
not creepy. just annoying and boring.
and i still have no idea what a double-acrostic is.
rating: 2
DAY 14: SYLVIE AND BRUNO AND SYLVIE AND BRUNO CONCLUDED
these are referenced a sh*t ton in the annotated alice, so i've always kinda meant to read them. let's see how it goes.
well, now i've read all of the non-prose parts of lewis carroll's third-most and fourth-most seminal works. that's something.
rating: 3
DAY 15: LATE COLLECTIONS
just a handful more of the impenetrable confusing double acrostics written for specific small children to take us out.
rating: 3
OVERALL
lewis carroll has always been more of a one-off god-level artist of my heart than a favorite author, and reading this collection didn't change that perception for me, but it was still good to discover!
and an important reminder that i have gone far too long without reading alice.
rating: 3
May 3, 2022
There's so much that could be said of Lewis Carroll's writing, all of which has already been said by someone else, but wow, that man can write a whimsical poem. There are definitely sections and styles of poetry in this collection that I enjoy more than others, but the overall way he manipulates form and diction truly is incredible. Even the poems I don't love are entirely unique to his writing style. You truly cannot read his work without knowing its his.
March 21, 2021
As a non-native English speaker, poetry can be particularly intimidating. This edition contains dozens of Carolls nonsensical poems, among them Jabberwocky and parts from Alice in Wonderland. It is a very fun and whimsical read.
Some of the non-narrative poems are still a bit hard for me to comprehend properly, but I will for sure come back to this book again later. This is out of my comfort zone, I enjoyed it immensely !
Some other favorites I highly recommend:
- His barque hath perished in the storm
- Fury said to
- Fantasmagoria (cute little ghost)
- Stanzas for Music
- Dreamland
Some of the non-narrative poems are still a bit hard for me to comprehend properly, but I will for sure come back to this book again later. This is out of my comfort zone, I enjoyed it immensely !
How doth the little crocodile
"How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!
How cheerfully he seems to grin
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!"
Some other favorites I highly recommend:
- His barque hath perished in the storm
- Fury said to
- Fantasmagoria (cute little ghost)
- Stanzas for Music
- Dreamland
September 9, 2012
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."
A memorable verse from an iconic poem, "The Walrus and the Carpenter", one of Carroll's most revered works alongside the titular "Jabberwocky". It tells the story of a cunning pair - the poetic Walrus and his complementary accomplice the Carpenter - and their encounter with a rather unfortunate bunch of oysters who eventually become the pairs supper. Both aforementioned poems exemplify the skill of Carroll as a master of metre - the verses flow fluidly from the tongue of the reader, making it a great tool for engaging young children learning classic poetry in schools.
For a piece to encourage the flowing of creative juices, look no further than Jabberwocky - a 'nonsense verse' that has a very clear grammatical structure but employs the use of fantastical words that are figments of Carroll's vivid imagination, though there is no doubt the listener will be as wary as the protagonist of the "frumious Bandersnatch". All in all, this makes for an excellent collection that should be made readily available to children and young adults of all ages.
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."
A memorable verse from an iconic poem, "The Walrus and the Carpenter", one of Carroll's most revered works alongside the titular "Jabberwocky". It tells the story of a cunning pair - the poetic Walrus and his complementary accomplice the Carpenter - and their encounter with a rather unfortunate bunch of oysters who eventually become the pairs supper. Both aforementioned poems exemplify the skill of Carroll as a master of metre - the verses flow fluidly from the tongue of the reader, making it a great tool for engaging young children learning classic poetry in schools.
For a piece to encourage the flowing of creative juices, look no further than Jabberwocky - a 'nonsense verse' that has a very clear grammatical structure but employs the use of fantastical words that are figments of Carroll's vivid imagination, though there is no doubt the listener will be as wary as the protagonist of the "frumious Bandersnatch". All in all, this makes for an excellent collection that should be made readily available to children and young adults of all ages.
March 20, 2016
"The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head He went galumphing back."
February 6, 2017
Some may find it childish, but I love, love, LOVE these poems. The Jabberwocky starts like this:
What’s there not to love?
My favourite verse from The Walrus and the Carpenter:
These poems are whimsical, nonsensical and satirical. I loved them as a child, and re-reading them, I am still enchanted.
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
What’s there not to love?
My favourite verse from The Walrus and the Carpenter:
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."
These poems are whimsical, nonsensical and satirical. I loved them as a child, and re-reading them, I am still enchanted.
September 2, 2014
This is one of my favourite poems ever just because of the fact this poem throws no punches and actually admits to being a nonsense poem. Because honestly, the amount of pretentious waffle I had to read in school and then make a profound interpretation from, just did my head in, and then this bad boy came along, and all the pretentious kids in the class were clueless because they couldn't make sense of this poem. It was so fucking funny and so brilliant.
Read
May 1, 2017Jabberwocky is a nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll--really, it's nonsense! Carroll created this poem, about the killing of a creature named the 'Jabberwock,' using nonsense words and a rhyming pattern of ABAB CDCD EFEF, and so on. This poem was included in Carroll's Through the Looking Glass novel. Interestingly enough, the character Alice notes that "'It seems very pretty,' she said when she had finished it, "but it's rather hard to understand!" (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.'" Alice gets the point of the poem: despite its confusing language, it is memorable.
This poem is not only an excellent tie-in to conflict (Is it OK to write with nonsense words? What does this poem mean?!) but it is also a great model text for getting students to think about WORD CHOICE in their own writing. In Chapter 6 of Creating Writers, Spandel discusses the importance of word choice in student writing, noting that word choice can create images in the reader's mind, explain concepts, and lead to a stronger voice. I would use Jabberwocky as a mentor text for students in order to create stronger word choice in their writing. I would have students write down the phrases or words that they feel are strong for word choice while reading. They can use Logographic Cues from Beers Chapter 7: Constructing meaning in order to mark where they find particularly memorable words or phrases. Then, students can model their own poem or short story using similarly interesting and varied word choice. Even though these are nonsense words, they do "fill [your] head with ideas," as Alice states in Through the Looking Glass--even if students are not creating their own nonsense words, they are still modeling after the poem for ideas of how to create strong word choice.
This poem is not only an excellent tie-in to conflict (Is it OK to write with nonsense words? What does this poem mean?!) but it is also a great model text for getting students to think about WORD CHOICE in their own writing. In Chapter 6 of Creating Writers, Spandel discusses the importance of word choice in student writing, noting that word choice can create images in the reader's mind, explain concepts, and lead to a stronger voice. I would use Jabberwocky as a mentor text for students in order to create stronger word choice in their writing. I would have students write down the phrases or words that they feel are strong for word choice while reading. They can use Logographic Cues from Beers Chapter 7: Constructing meaning in order to mark where they find particularly memorable words or phrases. Then, students can model their own poem or short story using similarly interesting and varied word choice. Even though these are nonsense words, they do "fill [your] head with ideas," as Alice states in Through the Looking Glass--even if students are not creating their own nonsense words, they are still modeling after the poem for ideas of how to create strong word choice.
August 14, 2014
We are building little homes on the sands
And time does indeed flit away, burbling and chortling. Cheshire Charles of Carroll created such whimsical poetry, it was frabjous to read his collected poems, albeit usually in a public space with curious onlookers trying to determine exactly what was in my book. That's because I had the gorgeous clothbound edition with the knockout dragonesque design by Coralie Bickford-Smith.
All in the golden afternoon
Full leisurely we glide
There is so much to love and marvel over with Mr. Dodgson. Snobby phantoms, mock turtles, fluttery bakers...each page a candy store of words and letters. Every time I thought I had a new favorite, but onward came the next page and memory started anew.
They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care;
They pursued it with forks and hope
Obviously, there are untold numbers of Lewis Carroll poetry books, so let me make a case for this specific volume. A member of the now famous Penguin Cloth Classics, it merits a place in your collection, even if you don't purchase p-books. Meticulous notes, ribbon marker, and bio plus the aforementioned cover art make this a Top-Shelf addition (and a nice little gift, if need be).
I think of that strange wanderer
Upon the lonely moor
That was Lewis Carroll, a strange wanderer in a lonely world.
Vorpal.
Book Season = Winter (when midnight mists are creeping)
And time does indeed flit away, burbling and chortling. Cheshire Charles of Carroll created such whimsical poetry, it was frabjous to read his collected poems, albeit usually in a public space with curious onlookers trying to determine exactly what was in my book. That's because I had the gorgeous clothbound edition with the knockout dragonesque design by Coralie Bickford-Smith.
All in the golden afternoon
Full leisurely we glide
There is so much to love and marvel over with Mr. Dodgson. Snobby phantoms, mock turtles, fluttery bakers...each page a candy store of words and letters. Every time I thought I had a new favorite, but onward came the next page and memory started anew.
They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care;
They pursued it with forks and hope
Obviously, there are untold numbers of Lewis Carroll poetry books, so let me make a case for this specific volume. A member of the now famous Penguin Cloth Classics, it merits a place in your collection, even if you don't purchase p-books. Meticulous notes, ribbon marker, and bio plus the aforementioned cover art make this a Top-Shelf addition (and a nice little gift, if need be).
I think of that strange wanderer
Upon the lonely moor
That was Lewis Carroll, a strange wanderer in a lonely world.
Vorpal.
Book Season = Winter (when midnight mists are creeping)
August 29, 2016
I love Lewis Carroll - total genius!!
October 2, 2018
I have read and been told that Lewis Carroll was a genius and that he is one of the most important writers in history. I won't disagree with the people who think this. I just have a different viewpoint.
He was a pioneer of nonsense. A lot of these poems are nonsense. Charming, interesting and occasionally sensible nonsense (which isn't a contradiction) but still nonsense.
The book is arranged in chronological order and that is not always a good thing. The changes in decades were jarring. I feel if you can open a book at any page and read a random poem you would enjoy this book more. I can't ever do that.
I didn't really enjoy this collection. I review based on my experience and this wasn't a great reading experience. I accept the fact there is greatness in the book but it wasn't great for me.
He was a pioneer of nonsense. A lot of these poems are nonsense. Charming, interesting and occasionally sensible nonsense (which isn't a contradiction) but still nonsense.
The book is arranged in chronological order and that is not always a good thing. The changes in decades were jarring. I feel if you can open a book at any page and read a random poem you would enjoy this book more. I can't ever do that.
I didn't really enjoy this collection. I review based on my experience and this wasn't a great reading experience. I accept the fact there is greatness in the book but it wasn't great for me.
May 26, 2024
One of my favorite poems ever!! It's so whimsical and weird I love it!!
February 26, 2018
This is one of the greatest nonsense poems ever written, yet Lewis Carroll is able to make himself understood, even when using words of his own devising.
March 12, 2018
My daughter can recite this nonsense poem by heart. I don’t know how she does it.
August 3, 2024
Saw this book in the University Library and decided that it was time to read something by another Lewis.
This was a lot of fun. I don't often read poetry books, but this was a great exception! I read both "Alice in Wonderland" and "Alice Through the Looking Glass" years ago and loved it, so I was interested in reading more by Carroll. When I saw this book, I decided to pick it up and I was pleasantly surprised. The poems were fun, easy to read and this collection offered a great selection of Carroll's works.
I would recommend this book to everyone who liked "Alice in Wonderland", because it is just as crazy and funny.
This was a lot of fun. I don't often read poetry books, but this was a great exception! I read both "Alice in Wonderland" and "Alice Through the Looking Glass" years ago and loved it, so I was interested in reading more by Carroll. When I saw this book, I decided to pick it up and I was pleasantly surprised. The poems were fun, easy to read and this collection offered a great selection of Carroll's works.
I would recommend this book to everyone who liked "Alice in Wonderland", because it is just as crazy and funny.
December 25, 2020
I enjoyed the more narrative poems but the rest were a slog to get through.
February 24, 2021
Quaff - to drink heartily. I love the sound of it.
(In a parallel universe I have a stable mental health and motivation that does not depend on my mood.
On some days, I think - this - world is that one.)
Better than Hunting of a snark. This one actually made me laugh. There was a poem on a photographer taking pictures and a few other poems that were too specific and nice.
(In a parallel universe I have a stable mental health and motivation that does not depend on my mood.
On some days, I think - this - world is that one.)
Better than Hunting of a snark. This one actually made me laugh. There was a poem on a photographer taking pictures and a few other poems that were too specific and nice.
October 23, 2022
i don't know what's going on and i simply don't wanna know
June 16, 2008
JABBERWOCKY
Lewis Carroll
(from Through the Looking-Glass
and What Alice Found There, 1872)
`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, has 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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was the first poem I remember
that got me hooked on poetry.
Loved the sound of the nonsense
words and how they rolled.
This poem opened up a whole new world for
me.
Wrote my first poem at the age of 9.
My class was asked to write a poem based
on a Psalm of David. I won a prize and my
poem was selected as the best out of all the
primary schools in my home town.
Lewis Carroll
(from Through the Looking-Glass
and What Alice Found There, 1872)
`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, has 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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was the first poem I remember
that got me hooked on poetry.
Loved the sound of the nonsense
words and how they rolled.
This poem opened up a whole new world for
me.
Wrote my first poem at the age of 9.
My class was asked to write a poem based
on a Psalm of David. I won a prize and my
poem was selected as the best out of all the
primary schools in my home town.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 6, 2018
Well, I have to admit that I'm confused about this author. He is like Dr Suess, making up words I can't read and will never know what they mean. I don't like Dr Suess and I don't like Carroll. I wrote a poem about it actually.
But here's the deal, I like the Jabberwocky and some of the nonsense poems in this book. When Carroll was asked to help enlighten people on the meanings of some of his made up words his grasp of language made me rethink my distaste. Isn't it odd that when you read his nonsense words you still get an idea of what they might mean? Check out the wikipedia page on the Jabberwocky.
Here's my poem about Dr Suess. My opinion is yet to change:
Dr Suess is a hack, making up words like Shirley and hords and
shumarahack it's hard on a parent to read these silly rhymes, i'm
tripping on my words half of the times. A fun thing to do, i'll talk
nonsense To you. Here is a picture of a zimbobabaroo. These made up
things are scary to see, a poor little kid will look and then flee,
"come here" we will say, "and read! Look here and see, a scary picture of a
Zimbababeweed!" "and now you have had a story or two, get in your bed,
I'm not sleeping with you! A monster isn't scary, they are just very
hairy. My bed is no safer, please face your fears and be a bit braver.
Why did I read Dr Suess to you?! Next time I'll read "my cow that says 'moo.'"
But here's the deal, I like the Jabberwocky and some of the nonsense poems in this book. When Carroll was asked to help enlighten people on the meanings of some of his made up words his grasp of language made me rethink my distaste. Isn't it odd that when you read his nonsense words you still get an idea of what they might mean? Check out the wikipedia page on the Jabberwocky.
Here's my poem about Dr Suess. My opinion is yet to change:
Dr Suess is a hack, making up words like Shirley and hords and
shumarahack it's hard on a parent to read these silly rhymes, i'm
tripping on my words half of the times. A fun thing to do, i'll talk
nonsense To you. Here is a picture of a zimbobabaroo. These made up
things are scary to see, a poor little kid will look and then flee,
"come here" we will say, "and read! Look here and see, a scary picture of a
Zimbababeweed!" "and now you have had a story or two, get in your bed,
I'm not sleeping with you! A monster isn't scary, they are just very
hairy. My bed is no safer, please face your fears and be a bit braver.
Why did I read Dr Suess to you?! Next time I'll read "my cow that says 'moo.'"
March 12, 2016
I love the poem Jabberwock, but some of Carroll's other poetry just doesn't do it for me. This time I was sharing the book with Sloane and my class. I adore being the first to read the poem to children. They TOTALLY get the poem and follow the story far, far better than most adults. I think it's because they are still so very involved in their own imaginary lives. It's a poem that is always a hit. One year when I introduced the poem to my fourth graders, I taught them about nonsense words (as usual.) It was wonderful because they all began to use "Caloo Calay!" as an exclamation and congratulation. I do love kids!
November 26, 2012
I read only one of these poems, Jabberwocky, illustrated by Joel Stewart. It simply took Lewis Carroll's original nonsense poem and illustrated it. It made a lot more sense reading it with the pictures acting it out, because most of the time, I had no idea what Carroll was saying with those crazy made up words. It was a simple book, not much to it. I didn't enjoy it too much because I didn't learn anything from it. I could be wrong because I didn't analyze it too much, but I don't feel like it teaches a lesson or anything. I think it was just a nonsense adventure story about a boy slaying a scary monster. I didn't feel any different after I read it, and I didn't like that.
March 6, 2014
I enjoyed reading this book of poems. Can't say I liked all of them but some I liked very much. Many of them are funny in an absurd way. If you want to see examples then I'd recommend poems like "The Walrus and the Carpenter" and "A Sea Dirge". The latter starts like this:
A Sea Dirge
There are certain things - as, a spider, a ghost,
The income-tax, gout, an umbrella for three -
That I hate, but the thing that I hate the most
Is a thing they call the Sea.
Pour some salt water over the floor -
Ugly I'm sure you'll allow it to be:
Suppose it extended a mile or more,
THAT'S very like the Sea.
etc......
A Sea Dirge
There are certain things - as, a spider, a ghost,
The income-tax, gout, an umbrella for three -
That I hate, but the thing that I hate the most
Is a thing they call the Sea.
Pour some salt water over the floor -
Ugly I'm sure you'll allow it to be:
Suppose it extended a mile or more,
THAT'S very like the Sea.
etc......
January 31, 2015
A little bit disappointed to be honest...I loved the poems in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, because I thought they were thought provoking, a little melancholy, meaningful in obscure ways. I enjoyed these poems more than the other ones. I thought they would be more meaningful, I just found them a bit dull and factual, with no other meaning. I'm not good at analysing poems so I probably missed the point of a lot of them. Maybe I just prefer sad romantic poetry; if you do then I am not sure this is the poetry for you. Still talented though, and I really enjoyed The Walrus And The Carpenter.
April 30, 2015
This is a book of nonsense poetry that appeals to all ages, but specifically to young children. Jabberwocky itself was presented in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and the wording of the poem is of Lewis Carroll's own invention. The lyricism is playful and the content entertaining. The illustrations are whimsical and mirror those seen in Carroll's other works. Just like "Wonderland", the poem and illustrations throw you into an inverted world where nothing is as it seems and allow your imagination to run wild. I have always enjoyed this poem throughout my childhood and adult life, just like with most of Carroll's work.
July 14, 2015
When I first read Jabberwocky back in school, I was enthralled. Here was a fun, nonsense poem that made me smile. So I got a copy ofJabberwocky and Other Poems by Lewis Carroll and read the entire book (okay, so it's a short book) in one day.
And I found that the Jabberwocky still makes me smile. As well as some of the other poems in the book. I have some other books by Lewis Carroll on my shelves to read. I'm certain I'll be smiling more once I get into them.
And I found that the Jabberwocky still makes me smile. As well as some of the other poems in the book. I have some other books by Lewis Carroll on my shelves to read. I'm certain I'll be smiling more once I get into them.
December 18, 2014
Have read most of these before, except (I think) some of the early ones and some of the later ones.
'Jabberwocky' will always be my favourite but there are plenty of others that I enjoyed - most of my favourites are from the Alice stories - thanks in part to the Disney film.
I enjoyed the acrostic poems - I remember writing those at school.
The riddle poems were good as well though I had no hopes of solving most of them.
The notes at the end were useful to help understand the poems (and solve the riddles).
'Jabberwocky' will always be my favourite but there are plenty of others that I enjoyed - most of my favourites are from the Alice stories - thanks in part to the Disney film.
I enjoyed the acrostic poems - I remember writing those at school.
The riddle poems were good as well though I had no hopes of solving most of them.
The notes at the end were useful to help understand the poems (and solve the riddles).
February 14, 2016
This is a booklet of poems by Lewis Carroll. It's basically divided into pre-Alice poems, poems from both Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass, and other poetry that he wrote. Some of the poetry is very similar in style to that in Alice, very unusual in wording and still very interesting.
In a poem entitled Rules and Regulations, he has a very interesting bit of advice for people and that is 'and never stammer,' yet he had a definite stammer, especially when around very small numbers of people.
I think most of his poetry is pretty good.
In a poem entitled Rules and Regulations, he has a very interesting bit of advice for people and that is 'and never stammer,' yet he had a definite stammer, especially when around very small numbers of people.
I think most of his poetry is pretty good.
December 25, 2013
a very decent read a little bit confusing but such is the way of mister Carroll's writing at tumes. I think that is part of what makes his writings so appealing to me. It's an enigma with some new rabbit trail of thought to follow as new ideas and pictures come from the pictures painted in his books.
the jabberwocky is a great book with many themes of heroism and valor that doesnt come up in modern poetry.
the jabberwocky is a great book with many themes of heroism and valor that doesnt come up in modern poetry.
May 18, 2017
The book, like the Monty Python movie, hold up better in memory than in experience.
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