Jabberwocky
Carroll, Lewis. "Jabberwocky BY LEWIS CARROLL." Poetryfoundation. The Random House
Book of Poetry for Children. Web. 7 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171647>.
’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.
Lewis Carroll’s timeless poem “Jabberwocky” uses a
broken rhyme scheme throughout its 7 stanzas. Stanzas 1, 2, 4, and 7 utilize an
a-b-a-b rhyme scheme while stanzas 3, 5, and 6 use an a-b-c-b rhyme scheme.
Carroll’s primarily a-b-a-b rhyme scheme coupled with its iambic meter serves
to paint the poem as a march. This March rhythm keeps the tone of Carroll’s somewhat
ridiculous, non-senseical poem, serious and achieves Carroll’s end goal of a
dark and ominous poem. Overall, Carroll’s a-b-a-b rhyme scheme helps make
“Jabberwocky” into a march as well as it helps the essay flow better. In this
a-b-a-b scheme, rhymes help expedite the reading of the poem. People begin to
expect similar words that end the sentence and rhyme. As well a-b-a-b rhyme
schemes show moments of importance when it’s broken.
Firstly Jack, I love how you title all your posts. It's fantastic. But back to the real issue at hand here, the rhyme scheme. I think you picked an excellent poem to explain rhyme scheme, and you did a good job identifying the correct rhyme scheme. You also did a stellar job of talking about the tone and the meaning of the poem.
ReplyDelete