Its ALL Blarney!!

Lewis Carroll

(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)

`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, has 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.

LINK

Sheer Genius, No? Generations of school children have had to study this poem to get a sense of nonsense. Wikipedia says:

The poem is sometimes used in primary schools to teach students about the use of portmanteaux and nonsense words in poetry, as well as use of nouns and verbs.^[2]

Because I didnt know what a portmanteau word was, I also looked THAT up:

“Portmanteau word” is used to describe a linguistic blend, namely “a word formed by blending sounds from two or more distinct words and combining their meanings”.^[1]

So, Brillig, slithy, gyre, gimble et al are portmanteaux. ok. Anyway, back to the Jabberwocky. That poem has always held a special fascination for me, I consider it sheer Genius of a type Ive never seen in print since. Perhaps it was drug induced? Perhaps it was an epiphany, or maybe just an attempt to amuse a child with silliness. Whatever. What I do know is wordsmiths everywhere will tell you that Jabberwocky is the epitome of the wordsmithing craft. The words THEMSELVES become the focus. I can think of maybe one other example of nonsense similar to Jabberwocky, and that is the song I AM THE WALRUS, by John Lennon (but credited as Lennon/McCartney)

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
See how they run like pigs from a gun, see how they fly.
I’m crying.

Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come.
Corporation tee-shirt, stupid bloody tuesday.
Man, you been a naughty boy, you let your face grow long.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob.

Mister city policeman sitting
Pretty little policemen in a row.
See how they fly like lucy in the sky, see how they run.
I’m crying, i’m crying.
I’m crying, i’m crying.

Yellow matter custard, dripping from a dead dog’s eye.
Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess,
Boy, you been a naughty girl you let your knickers down.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob.

Sitting in an english garden waiting for the sun.
If the sun don’t come, you get a tan
From standing in the english rain.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob g’goo goo g’joob.

Expert textpert choking smokers,
Don’t you thing the joker laughs at you?
See how they smile like pigs in a sty,
See how they snied.
I’m crying.

Semolina pilchard, climbing up the eiffel tower.
Elementary penguin singing hari krishna.
Man, you should have seen them kicking edgar allan poe.
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob g’goo goo g’joob.
Goo goo g’joob g’goo goo g’joob g’goo.

Yellow Matter Custard? the ewww factor is off the charts! I always liked the line about “boy, you’ve been a naughty girl you let your knickers down” and that bit about “expert textpert choking smokers, dont you think the joker laughs at you” seems to be a gauntlet thrown down to anyone who tries to figure it out. or not…(is that a joker I hear laffing?)

Ok, there you have it. My paen to nonsense, to wordsmithing, to BLARNEY if you will.

~ by irishgrl on December 29, 2008.

Posted in because I said so, humor, Oddz and Endz, weird and wonderful
Tags: Blarney, I am the Walrus, Jabberwocky, nonsense, paen, portmanteau