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by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 - 1898), as Lewis Carroll

Jabberwocky
Language: English 
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the momeraths 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 momeraths outgrabe.

Text Authorship:

  • by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 - 1898), as Lewis Carroll, "Jabberwocky", appears in Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, London, Macmillan, first published 1871 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Jabberwocky", 1991, published 1996 [ high voice or medium voice and piano ], from "Alice" Songs, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Ronald A. Beckett , "Jabberwocky", 2017 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by George Whitefield Chadwick (1854 - 1931), "Jabberwocky", 1886 [ TTBB chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "Jabberwocky", 1982 [ baritone and piano ], from Five Lewis Carroll Poems, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Richard Farber (b. 1945), "Jabberwocky", 2020 [ voice and piano ], from Songs on Verse by Lewis Carroll, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Emily Hazrati (b. 1998), "Jabberwocky" [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Lee Hoiby (1926 - 2011), "Jabberwocky", 1986 [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller

This text was added to the website: 2004-04-27
Line count: 28
Word count: 164

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