'Twas Brillig: a Jabberwocky Page

“The Jabberwocky” is perhaps the most well-known, well-loved, studied, and revered piece of nonsense literature in the English language (well, ostensibly English, anyway), and perhaps in any language. While it occupies a relatively minor position in Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There (commonly referred to as Alice Through the Looking Glass), its renown has spread far beyond that single opening chapter (well, and Humpty Dumpty's later expoundification thereof.

Its popularity has resulted in its translation into a number of languages, including French, German, and yes, even Latin.

The Text

• “The Jabberwocky” (Original English)
• “Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry” (Anglo-Saxon, fragment)
• “Mors Iabrochii” (Latin)
• “Endraperós” (Catalan)

Outside Jabberwocky Links

• Dick VandeVelde's "Jabberwocky" Page
• David Shaw's "Jabberwocky.com"
• David Hollander's "Ultimate Jabberwocky Page"
• Keith Lim's "Jabberwocky Variations"

Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry

by Lewis Carroll

The piece actually has its origins in Misch-Masch, a sometime-periodical Lewis Carroll (well, Charles Dodgson) created in his early twenties for the benefit of his younger siblings. Originally entitled “Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry”, the first stanza of “The Jabberwocky” went like this (in a runic/uncial script of sorts):

TWAS BRYLLYG, AND Y^E SLYTHY TOVES
DID GYRE AND GYMBLE IN Y^E WABE:
ALL MIMSY WERE Y^E BOROGOVES;
AND Y^E MOME RATHS OUTGRABE.

(see Original Anglo-Saxon)

Carroll himself interpreted this much as Humpty Dumpty would later, and, as Humpty goes no further than this first stanza, one might suppose that Carroll had no desire to refresh the work of his youth, but merely to make some honest use of what was already done: perhaps the coinages later in the poem were deemed insignificant or obvious. Whatever the reason, this Anglo-Saxon literary scholarship is the only clue we have as to the poem's true meaning

Hence the literal English of the passage is: 'It was evening, and the smooth active badgers were scratching and boring holes in the hill-side; all unhappy were the parrots; and the grave turtles squeaked out.'

There were probably sundials on the top of the hill, and the 'borogoves' were afraid that their nests would be undermined. The hill was probably full of the nests of 'raths', which ran out, squeaking with fear, on hearing the 'toves' scratching outside. This is an obscure, but yet deeply-affecting, relic of ancient Poetry.