2. was originally published in its entirety in the 1871 book Through
the Looking-Glass, and what Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll
poem itself was originally just the first stanza, and was published
in a magazine that Carroll put together for family and friends
entitled that first stanza "Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry."
("Anglo-Saxon refers to people who lived in England in
approximately 600 A.D.)
"Jabberwocky" was influenced both by that Anglo-Saxon verse
which he parodies (killing things with swords, heroes on quests,
etc.)
also local English legends (the north-English myth of the Lambton
Worm is plausible here – it's about a hero that goes and
vanquishes a livestock-eating slithery thing)
His stories and poems are funny and whimsical, but they're also
complicated, dark, and bitter.
3.
4. '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!"
5. 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.
6. "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.
9. ACCORDING TO HUMPTY DUMPY:
Brillig: four o' clock in the afternoon, because that's when you start
broiling things for dinner
Slithy: lithe and slimy
Toves: "something like badgers, something like lizards, and something
like corkscrews" (125)
Gyre and gimble: to gyre is to go around like a gyroscope, and gimble
is to make holes in something
Wabe: the grass plot surrounding a sun-dial (so named because it goes
a ways in each direction)
Mimsy: combination (called a portmanteau) of flimsy and miserable
Borogoves: a "thin, shabby-looking bird" that resembles a mop
Mome raths: "well, a rath is a sort of green pig, but mome I'm not sure
about, I think it's short for 'from home' – meaning they'd lost their way,
you know" (126)
Outgrabe: a combination of whistling and bellowing with a sneeze in
12. Phenomenal Woman
BY MAYA ANGELOU
Pretty women wonder where my
secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion
model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
13. I walk into a room
Just as cool as you
please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their
knees.
Then they swarm around
me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
And the flash of my
teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
14. Men themselves have
wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
15. Now you understand
Just why my head’s not
bowed.
I don’t shout or jump
about
Or have to talk real
loud.
When you see me
passing,
It ought to make you
proud.
It’s in the click of my
heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need for my care.
’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
