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"Jabberwocky" is a poem (of nonsense verse) found in Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll. It is generally considered to be the greatest nonsense poem written in the English language.

1 The Poem

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.

2 Glossary

Several of the words in the poem are of Carroll's own invention, many of them portmanteaus. In the book, the character of Humpty Dumpty gives definitions for the nonsense words in the first verse. Lewis Carroll came up with other versions too. An extended analysis of the poem is given in the book The Annotated Alice, including writings from Carroll about how he formed some of his idiosyncratic words. A few words that Carroll invented in this poem (such as "chortled" and "galumphing") have entered the language. The word jabberwocky itself is sometimes used to refer to nonsense language.

Bandersnatch - A swift moving creature with snapping jaws. Capable of extending its neck. (From The Hunting of the Snark).

Borogove -- A thin shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round, something like a live mop.

Brillig -- Four o'clock in the afternoon: the time when you begin broiling things for dinner.

Frumious -- Combination of "fuming" and "furious." (From the Preface to The Hunting of the Snark).

Gimble -- To make holes like a gimlet.

GyreA gyre is any manner of swirling vortex. It is often used to describe wind or ocean currents. The word was also used by William Butler Yeats for an occult historical concept presented in his book A Vision (a book whose ideas Yeats claimed to receive from -- To go round and round like a gyroscopeA gyroscope is a device which demonstrates the principle of conservation of angular momentum, in physics. The essence of the device is a spinning wheel on an axle. The device, once spinning, tends to resist changes to its orientation. The gyroscope was in. (Gyre is an actual word, circa 1566, meaning a circular or spiral motion or form; especially a giant circular oceanic surface current.)

Jubjub -- A desperate bird that lives in perpetual passion. (From The Hunting of the Snark).

Mimsy -- Combination of "flimsy" and "miserable".

Mome -- (Possibly) short for "from home", meaning that the raths had lost their way.

Outgribe -- Something between bellow ing and whistlingWhistle is a manga by Daisuke Higuchi. The term whistle usually refers to a one-note woodwind instrument which produces sound from a stream of forced air. For the sound produced with the mouth, see whistling and whistled language. Many types exist, from s, with a kind of sneezeA sneeze is the semi-autonomous, convulsive expulsion of air from the nose. A sneezer exhales with a speed of up to 146 m/s (312 miles per hour). An unimpeded sneeze sends two to five thousand bacteria-filled droplets into the air. Sneezing is generally c in the middle.

Rath -- A sort of green pigThe domestic pig is usually given the scientific name Sus scrofa though some authors call it S. domesticus reserving S. scrofa for the wild boar. It has been a domesticated animal for approximately 5,000 to 7,000 years. The animal is found across Europe,. (See Origin for futher details)

Slithy -- Combination of " lithe " and " slimy ."

Toves -- A combination of a badger, a lizard, and a corkscrew. They are very curious looking creatures which make their nests under sundials. They live on cheese.

Wabe -- The grass plot around a sundial. It's called "wabe" because it goes a long way before it, and a long way behind it, and a long way beyond it on each side.