About Lewis Carroll: Lewis Carroll was an English author who was well known for his novels which included
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.
Some Word Explanations:
Brillig: After the poem in Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There , Humpty Dumpty explained that "Brillig means four o'clock, the time when you begin broiling things for dinner"
Gimble: "to spin like a gimlet" A Gimlet was a small tool that made small holes like an auger, but a gimlet is much smaller.
Wabe: A long thin field on the side of a hill. They have sundials in them. Mimsy: Flimsy and Miserable
Outgrabe. Humpty Duumpty says "Outgribing is something like a mix between a bellow and a groan with a whistle inbetween"
Jabberwock: Jabberwockey, it is a ferocious beast
Jubjub bird: A desperate bird that lives in perpetual passion: This was said in Carroll's later poem The Hunting of the Snark
Bandersnatch: Bander was an old word for leader. A monster that preys on the leader of a group.
Vorpal: Carroll never had an an explanation nor did he think he invented it
Maxome: Fearsome, Manly
Tulgey: Thick, dense and dark
Burbled: Bleat murmer and Warble Thesis:
1.What nonsense words did you know before you read the meanings? What words made sense after you read the meanings? What words still don't make sense? What do these words have in common?
2.What purpose does the first and last stanza have? Why do you think they are repeated?
3.Do you recognize any "nonsense" words that are now used today? Are most new words created this way?
4.The character Humpty Dumpty is not in the poem, but in the novel Through the Looking Glass: and What Alice Found There He is an important character that that explains many of the words that we would not be able to understand. Do you think you would still have understood the poem without the word meanings section? What importance does where a poem is found have?
5. What challenges do you think a translator would have translating this poem? How would you go about doing this?
Slithy: Humpty Dumpty says: "Slithy means 'lithe and slimy'. 'Lithe' is the same as active. You see it's like a portmanteau. There are two meanings packed into one word." The word is also a reference to snakes.
ReplyDeleteTove: It’s an animal that is like a badger in some ways, a lizard in others. It's also like a corkscrew. They live off cheese and live under sundials.
Gyre: Gyre is a root that is found in words like gyroscope. Gyre is to move in circles.
Borogrove: Humpty Dumpty explains that a Borogrove is a large bird with thin long feathers almost like a mop. Lewis Carroll said that they are an extinct bird almost like a Parrot They eat Veal and Live under sundials.
Mome: An adjective meaning far from home, or lost it's way from home. Lewis Carroll states this in his original notes of his poem.
Rath: A sort of a mix between a pig, a badger and a turtle. It is green and feeds off swallows and oysters.
Frumious: Fuming and Furious
Uffish: Carroll noted "It seemed to suggest a state of mind when the voice is gruffish, the manner roughish, and the temper huffish"
Whiffling:The sound that the wind makes.Pertains to something being so fast that it can make the same noise.
Snicker-Snack: possible related to the Snicker-Snee, something between a large knife and a short sword.
Galumphing: Galloping and triumphant.
Beamish: Beaming, happy, and cheerful
Frabjous: Fair, fabulous, and joyful
Chortled: Chuckle and snort
Very good presentation today. I thought it was about a man who cuts down trees in the forest with all the animals still living in their habitats, but I was wrong. As the class mentioned it was about a beast that was hated by every animal in the forest. When they finally killed him, the animals were all happy to have their forest back. This reminds me of cartoons and child movies like "Finding Nemo," except in the poem it is a beast not a fish. Overall it is a very interesting poem that is similar to child movies and cartoons.
ReplyDeleteWow, Jason. Thanks for demonstrating the point I just tried to make in the next post. You've convinced me that Bill's work today helped you know Jabberwocky much better by the time he was done. What a fine job you've done of making explicit the process of clarifying your understanding of a text.
ReplyDelete