Jabberwocky
Lewis Carroll
’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.
My Godfather chose The Jabberwocky by Lewis Caroll as his favourite poem. He likes the rhymes and meter and the near comic sounds of a tongue twister. The nonsensical words take on their own meaning creating a strangely clear picture in the reader’s mind’s eye. He likes that some of these nonsensical words have become words in their own right, for example the “vorpal sword”.
I also interviewed my parents. My mother who chose ‘Déjeuner du Matin’ by Jacques Prévert. She appreciates the minimalist style which expresses ideas so effectively. You can read it here. My father chose 'The Clod and the Pebble' by William Blake (link here) because of its symmetry and its message about love and that we need to learn to both give and take.