Nonsense Poems · Funny
Chapter I
by Lewis Carroll · 1871
1’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
2Did gyre and gimble in the wade;
3All mimsy were the borogoves,
4And the mome raths outgrabe.
5"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
6The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
7Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
8The frumious Bandersnatch!"
9He took his vorpal sword in hand:
10Long time the manxome foe he sought—
11So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
12And stood awhile in thought.
13And as in uffish thought he stood,
14The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
15Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
16And burbled as it came!
17One, two! One, two! And through and through
18The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
19He left it dead, and with its head
20He went galumphing back.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Chapter I” by Lewis Carroll — quilloak.com/poems/jabberwocky
Quick facts
- Poem
- Chapter I
- Poet
- Lewis Carroll
- Published
- 1871
- Length
- 28 lines
- Form
- Nonsense Poems, Ballad
- Themes
- Funny, For Kids
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 28 lines · 7 quatrains
- Line length
- Mostly 8-syllable lines (tetrameter length).
- Refrains
- “’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves”“All mimsy were the borogoves,”“And the mome raths outgrabe.”Repeated lines act as the poem's hinge or drumbeat.
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the cited edition and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Lewis Carroll1832–1898
- Source record
- WikisourceChapter I by lewis-carroll, Wikisource transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1871
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 fdf6ff302fd3dc4b…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.