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Caitlin Enright
Y. Garza
English II/7th
February 27, 2015
Analysis of Jabberwocky
Lewis Carrol, born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, is probably one of the most famous poets
of his time (Analysis of poem Lewis).Through his writings of Alices Adventures in
Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and The hunting of the Snark, he influenced many
childrens authors and 20th century writers (Analysis of poem Lewis Carrol). When this
poem was written, Carrol was under the influence of opiates, so, afterwards, he dedicated this
poem to vanquishing internal demons (Jabberwocky Introduction). His love for children
influenced him to write Alices Adventure in Wonderland, motivated by a little girl, who he made
the main heroine in the story (Lewis Carol). He also wrote this poem for a group of friends; it
only being the first stanza called Stanza of the Anglo-Saxon (Jabberwocky Introduction).
This poem is litter with many types of poetic elements, like onomatopoeia, allusion, rhyme
scheme, etc., that gives the poem its unique shape.
Carrol was born in Cheshire, England on January 27, 1832 (Analysis of poem Lewis
Carrol). This can account for his use of made up words like slithy; making it similar to
Cockney, a rhyming slang commonly used in the United Kingdom. The relationship Carrol had
with young people in his adult years, says Biography.com, are of great interest, as they
undoubtedly inspired his best known writings (Lewis Carrol). This is interesting to hear
because Carrol never got married and had children (Lewis Carrol). This poem, for example
tells the story about a boy who lost his three green pigs (Analysis of poem Lewis Carrol).

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His father warns him about the dangers of the borogroves and of the terrible beasts hell
encounter on his journey, one of them being the terrible Jabberwocky, which was killed by the
boy towards the end of the poem (Analysis of poem Lewis Carrol). Finally, he comes home
and is celebrated by his father for bringing back the head of the Jabberwocky, him totally
forgetting the pigs he went into the borogroves to retrieve in the first place (Analysis of poem
Lewis Carrol). Due to these incredulous factors, Carrol had the great idea to create a new
world called Wonderland.
Onomatopoeia is one of poetic elements in this poem. Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
is one example of onomatopoeia (Sound and Wordplay). The sound you hear when you
say the word slithy is supposed to sound like a slithering, graceful snake (Sound and
Wordplay). The words that have been put together are lithe, meaning graceful, and slimy
(Sound and Wordplay). What Ive noticed is that, when Carrol uses his creative, made up
words, its supposed to have a dual meaning that pack a punch as the reader is reading. Another
example of onomatopoeia is The vorpal blade went Snicker Snack (Carrol). With this line, you
can hear two onomatopoeias (Sound and Wordplay). The first obvious sound you hear is the
snicker snack, and the second, not so obvious sound, is vorpal (Sound and Wordplay). In
vorpal, the first part of the word, vorp, sounds like the swinging of a big or heavy weapon
(Sound and Wordplay). In snicker snack, it sounds like a sword hitting something (Sound and
Wordplay). At this moment in time, a boy is slaying the Jabberwocky (Analysis of poem Lewis
Carrol). These are the particular sounds that can be heard. As the main poetic element, there,
of course, is many more that could be shown to illustrate this poem.
When people think about poems, rhyming is usually the first thing that comes to mind.
This rhyme scheme that the poem follows is ababcdcdefef This rhyme makes the rhyming at

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the end, or end rhyme. This is the most common type of rhyme. The way Carrol uses it makes it
more interesting compared to the poems we grew up with. His odd words and phrases he uses
ensures that each line rhymes. Lines one and three are examples of end rhyme with the words
being toves and borogroves (Carrol). He probably knew that grove rhymed with toves, but,
because he knew that Wonderland was a very odd place, he added boro in front of groves to
add to the weirdness. The rhyme scheme in this poem, along with its odd wordplay gives the
poem its popularity.
Allusion is a powerful source of suggestion. It is commonly used to connect things from
the past, or make an obvious point indirectly Beware the Jabberwock my son (Carrol). This
alludes to some kind of danger (Fantasy). The father figure in this story tells the son to be
careful as he goes out into the woods alone. Naturally, the father decides to scare him. He
continues by saying The jaws that bite, the claws that catch (Carrol). This time, he alludes to
just how dangerous the force is (Fantasy). As the boy in this poem, I would more than likely be
more than afraid of the imminent threat. The suggestion the poem has about the danger the
Jabberwocky is sets the mood for the beginning of the poem.
Jabberwocky

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Works Cited
Carrol, Lewis. Jabberwocky. The Poetry Foundation. Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute, 2015.
Web. February 10, 2015. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171647>
Jabberwocky Introduction. Shmoop. Shmoop University, 2015. Web. February 12, 2015.
<http://www.shmoop.com/jabberwocky/>
Sound and Wordplay. Shmoop. Shmoop University, 2015. Web. February 12, 2015.
<http://jabberwocky/sound-wordplay.html/>
Fantasy. Shmoop. Shmoop University, 2015. Web. February 12, 2015.
<http://www.shmoop.com/jabberwocky/fantasy-symbol.html>
Analysis of Poem Lewis Carrol- Jabberwocky- Referat. n.p., n.d.. Web. February 12, 2015.
<http://www.lerntippsammlung.de/Analysis-of-Poem--g-Lewis-Carrol-_-Jabberwockyg-.html>
Lewis Carrol. Bio. A&E Television, 2015. Web. February, 15, 2015.
<http://www.biography.com/people/lewis-carrol-9239598>