'Twas Brillig---Es Brillig War

Jabberwocky 


'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 wiffling 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

Der Jammerwoch

Es brillig war. Die schlichte Toven
Wirrten und wimmelten in Waben;
Und aller-mümsige Burggoven
Die mohmen Räth' ausgraben.

»Bewahre doch vor Jammerwoch!
Die Zähne knirschen, Krallen kratzen!
Bewahr' vor Jubjub-Vogel, vor
Frumiösen Banderschntzchen!«

Er griff sein vorpals Schwertchen zu,
Er suchte lang das manchsan' Ding;
Dann, stehend unterm Tumtum Baum,
Er an-zu-denken-fing.

Als stand er tief in Andacht auf,
Des Jammerwochen's Augen-feuer
Durch tulgen Wald mit Wiffek kam
Ein burbelnd Ungeheuer!

Eins, Zwei! Eins, Zwei! Und durch und durch
Sein vorpals Schwert zerschnifer-schnück,
Da blieb es todt! Er, Kopf in Hand,
Geläumfig zog zurück.

»Und schlugst Du ja den Jammerwoch?
Umarme mich, mien Böhm'sches Kind!
O Freuden-Tag! O Halloo-Schlag!«
Er schortelt froh-gesinnt.

Es brillig war. Die schlichte Toven
Wirrten und wimmelten in Waben;
Und aller-mümsige Burggoven
Die mohmen Räth' ausgraben.

                                     Robert Scott

Scott, Robert. "The Jabberwock Traced to Its True Source", MacMillan's Magazine, Feb 1872. This article was a clever conceit written by a friend of Rev. Dodgson pretending to uncover the true genesis of the famous poem in an ancient German verse. The word sounds of this German version are truly ausgezeichnet!

Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll, from Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872
The illustration included above is by John Tenniel and is from that same volume.