101 Poems, Number 44

Favorite Poems Throughout My Life

44: “Jabberwocky,” 1871 (appears in Through the Looking Glass), by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodson, 1832–98)

To entertain a grandson* I

Shoved well into my memory

This poem from that noted guy

Who wrote of Wonderland—for me!

A story Disney modified,

A story I still enjoyed a lot

When I was young, less … dignified.

And was—oh yes—myself a tot.

Some words were challenging, of course—

Like brillig, mimsy, and the rest.

But I exerted mental force (!)

And soon had placed them with the best

That I had learned from poets great—

Like Auden, Shakespeare, Dickinson.

And on one day (not sure the date)

I reeled it off for Carson. Fun!

A story of pursuing the

Most dreaded creature—Jabberwock!

But then … oh, read it: Then you'll see

The battle raging—victory talk!

*Carson William Daniel Dyer, now 9

Link to poem.