By 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. About the poem: This nonsense poem appears in Carroll’s 1871 novel, Through the Looking Glass. However, he started composing the poem more than a decade earlier. About the poet: Lewis Carroll was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson on January 27, 1832, in Daresbury, Cheshire, England. He began writing poetry for his homemade newspapers at an early age. He graduated from Christ Church College, Oxford, in 1854, having studied mathematics and writing, and remained at the college after graduation to teach. His early published books dealt with mathematical topics. Carroll also began to pursue photography, and one of his favorite models was a young girl named Alice Liddell, who later became the basis for his fictional character, Alice. He published Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 1865, followed by Through the Looking Glass in 1872. Lewis Carroll died on January 14, 1898, in Guildford, Surrey.Jabberwocky