Line #52 Literature/Jabberwocky


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7	->''Twas brillig, and the slithy toves\
8	Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;\
9	All mimsy were the borogoves,\
10	And the mome raths outgrabe.''
11	-->-- '''Jabberwocky''' excerpt, ''Literature/ThroughTheLookingGlass''
12
13	What you just read was the first stanza of a nonsense ballad by Creator/LewisCarroll to {{parody}} overwrought and poorly-written yet seriously-intended poems. It appeared in ''[[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There]]'', the second of Carroll's ''Alice'' books. In it, Alice finds the poem right upon entering the Looking-Glass, and, more than confused by its words, asks for Humpty Dumpty's help to decipher it after meeting him later on.
14
15	Some of the nonsense words invented by Carroll for the poem -- like "vorpal" and "chortle" -- have entered usage and become semi-official words.
16
17	[[IAmNotShazam Be aware that, while "Jabberwocky" is the name of the poem, the eponymous monster is the ''Jabberwock''.]]
18
19	It is also said to have been inspired by a tree. Make of that what you will.
20
21	Carroll's ''Literature/TheHuntingOfTheSnark'' is a SpiritualSuccessor to this poem, and features several of the same creatures, though not the Jabberwock itself.
22
23	In 1977, Creator/TerryGilliam made a very, very loose movie adaptation, also titled ''Film/{{Jabberwocky}}''.
24
25	In 1999, prog rock keyboardists Clive Nolan and Oliver (son of Rick) Wakeman recorded a ConceptAlbum based on the poem, with Wakeman Sr. reading bits of the poem[[note]] not always 100% accurately[[/note]] between the songs.
26
27	----
28	!!The poem contains examples of:
29	* TwentyFourHourTropeClock: Brillig is four o'clock in the afternoon, just when you start to broil things for dinner.
30	* AbsurdlySharpBlade: The vorpal sword, which decapitates the Jabberwock in two slices.
31	* AchillesInHisTent: Briefly. TheHero stops to rest by a tree, and then stands there for a while in "uffish thought" (basically, sulking).
32	* AllThereInTheManual: Carroll created definitions for his nonsense words. The first stanza is explicitly translated by Humpty Dumpty when Alice meets him later in the ''Through the Looking Glass.''
33	* AmbiguouslyEvil: It can be easily inferred from the story that the Jabberwock eats people, but we aren't given any information as to whether the creature is malevolent or simply an animalistic predator. The fact that it's for whatever reason drawn wearing a waistcoat would imply it at least has the sapience required for the former, though.
34	* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: The Jabberwock's death elicits this reaction.
35	* AudibleSharpness: "The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!"
36	* BigBad: The Jabberwock is one of three feral beasts mentioned by TheHero's father, and the one he sets out to slay.
37	* {{Bookends}}: The first and last stanzas are identical.
38	* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: InUniverse. the boy's father tells him to beware several dangerous monsters, and his immediate response to these warnings is to grab a weapon and go out to kill one. Downplayed, in that the father is [[SoProudOfYou very much proud of his son]] after his success.
39	* TheDreaded: The Jabberwock, considering the fact that the whole town cheers when it's slain.
40	* FeatheredFiend: The Jubjub bird is mentioned to be a dangerous creature.
41	* MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext: Unless you've read Carroll's definitions, the entire poem is an amalgamation of nonsensical words jumbled together that vaguely tell the story of a boy who slays a monster. Alice finds it more incomprehensible than she is willing to admit, and even Humpty Dumpty, who declares himself to be able to explain every poem ever written and many that haven't been written yet, thinks its words are rather difficult.
42	-->'''Alice''': "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."
43	* {{Mesodiplosis}}: Comparing threats of the jaws and claws of the Jabberwock:
44	-->The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
45	* {{Neologism}}: A lot of them -- 25 words in the poem are ones that Carrol just made up.
46	* NoNameGiven: Neither TheHero nor his father are mentioned by name.
47	* OffWithHisHead: How the Jabberwock dies, being decapitated with the vorpal sword.
48	* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The Jabberwock roughly resembles a dragon in the illustration, although the prose's description of it is rather vague.
49	* PerfectlyCromulentWord: Carroll filled his poem with words that did not exist at the time (vorpal, tulgey, galumphing...)
50	* {{Portmanteau}}: Many of the made-up words take this form - "slithy", "mimsy", "galumphing" and "chortled". It is a little harder to trace the etymology of "frumious", "whiffling", "burbled" and "frabjous", though these may all be corrupted portmanteaux as well.
51	* PublicDomainArtifact: The Vorpal Blade is in many TabletopGames and VideoGames as a sword that tends to chop heads off.
52	* RedEyesTakeWarning: When the Jabberwock attacks the boy, he is described as having "eyes of flame".
53	* SoProudOfYou: "And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy!"
54	* UnsoundEffect: The vorpal sword goes "snicker-snack".
55	* WaistcoatOfStyle: John Tenniel's illustration depicts the Jabberwock wearing one.
56	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The Jubjub bird and the Bandersnatch that the hero’s dad warns about never appear in the poem.
57	* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: The first stanza was originally published alone as a parody of old English verse where almost all the words have fallen out of use.

Context Literature / Jabberwocky