Mythology Chapter One

I enjoyed this chapter because it set up a framework to understand how Mythology has been studied in the past, and how it all leads to the way it is studied today. The writers give a wonderfully detailed account of the positive influences these early schools of thought had, and the terrible fallacies they brought about. It was interesting learning about how Hitler was able to take advantage of the nationalism that was sparked in Europe during the 19th century, due to the comparative school's Eurocentric outlook on cultures and myths. I think they are saying that a responsible scholar takes into account the comparative view, but also is involved in field work and can use the knowledge that has been gained in psychology, anthropology and other view points, since the study of mythology has become popularized in the modern age. Leonard and McClure respect the cultures that the myths are culled from, they don't seem to denigrate them as primitive, or misunderstood science. Probably my favorite part of this chapter was the discussion about how myths are living. They are oral traditions that are passed down for generations before being written down. Contemporary mythologists seem to focus on all aspects of the myth, the story itself, who told it, where and how it was told, cultural and historical and psychological understandings of it, and the significance the myth has to the people it comes from, and to the people reading and studying it. I feel like I can trust the information in the rest of the book to not put Western principles first and view the myths as inferior because they may belong to the other.

The Modern Day Poet

"She walks in beauty," cried Byron,
The road less traveled chose Frost,
Wordsworth's a wandering cloud,
But oh my, who am I?

I have no one to call "My Captain,"
I can't go to Innisfree.
My raven flew off and left me
With nothing but misery.

With a drop of Emily's genius,
And Hardy's dark imagery,
I could live in secret solace
Of what a poet I could be!


Quotes and references from
"She walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron.
"The Road not Taken" by Robert Frost.
"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth.
"Oh Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitman.
"The Lake Isle of Innisfree" by William Butler Yeats.
"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe.
Emily Dickinson, reclusive poetic genius.
Thomas Hardy, turn of the century cynic.

A Villanelle for Anna

There could never be a compromise,
Was Wisdom's warning cry,
But the roar overtook all.

She loved him for his beauty,
Forsook husband and child, for
There could never be a compromise.

They laughed and danced together,
He a god, and she only echo,
But the roar overtook all.

Over time the storms drew him on,
Her darkness shadowed his light, for
There could be no compromise.

Distress calls flew in all directions.
Husband and son failed to hear,
For the roar overtook all.

Light and love are only illusions.
Passion is Hades' alone because
There could never be a compromise.

Just a shadow, she passed by.
Felt the rush, smelled the rust for
There is no compromise because
The roar of the train overtakes all.

Inspired by Count Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.

Flying Japan

Flying Japan is my destination,
Islands above the sea
Are calling to me.

Living Japan is my inspiration,
People bobbing in and out of
Daily activities, enticing me.

Sleeping Japan is my fear,
Just like after the bomb
That shattered so many souls,
And rid my nation of its morals.

Flying Japan
Is their hope
And destiny,
And our redemption.

Caitlin McGinn
Professor Wexler
English 495ESM
10 February 2010

Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky:” Meaning out of Nonsense

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe (Carroll, 100 Best 71).

So begins the best and most famous nonsense poem in the English language, Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” from his children’s novel Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. “Jabberwocky” has entertained children for over a century with its mystifying imagery and funny sounding words. For adults who study this poem, it becomes less of a “nonsense” poem and more of a profound study in the nature of poetry, word structure and meaning in the English language.

One reason “Jabberwocky” is readable is that it is formatted with standard rules of English poetry. It is a set of seven quatrains in iambic pentameter, with a basic end rhyme of ab cd. The rhyme scheme does not go though the entire poem, as in a couple of stanzas there is not a direct rhyme, such as, “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” (Carroll, 100 Best 72). Although the rhyme is not perfect, the rhythm of the poem is not damaged. Carroll’s use of alliteration contributes to the flow of the poem by connecting the lines through similar sounds.

The words are constructed according to rules of grammar. There are vowels between consonants, and the rules of pronunciation apply. There is a principal in grammar that one can invent new words because the construction of phonemes follows a pattern. Carroll keeps to the pattern of English and is able to invent numerous words to create a poem that has vivid imagery, without definite words. Alice says about “Jabberwocky,” “Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas – only I don’t know exactly what they are!” (Carroll, Annotated 150). Carroll did not create his words solely from his imagination. Most of them are related to Anglo-Saxon, or old English words. And some words, such as “chortle,” (a cross between “chuckle” and “snort”) have been accepted into our language. Looking for the sources of Carroll’s words is an interesting and time consuming hobby, but it bypasses the point of the poem. If Carroll meant for his words to be clear, he would have used regular English words, instead of silly inventions. The word play is meant to create imagery in one’s mind and force one to use one’s imagination to interpret the meaning. The beauty of “Jabberwocky” is that people do come up with interpretations.

Humpty Dumpty perhaps gives the best explanation of the nature of the words in “Jabberwocky.” He is explaining to Alice that the poem is filled with “portmanteau” words: “there are two meanings packed up into one word,” such as “slithy” is a combination of “slimy” and “lithe” (Carroll, Annotated 215). However, Humpty Dumpty notoriously creates meanings for words, so his explanations of these packed words, are unreliable. Just as relying on the ancient sources for the words sacrifices the point of the poem, so does trying to define each and every word, which often becomes contradictory, like Dumpty’s “toves are something like badgers— they’re something like lizards— and they’re something like corkscrews” (ibid).

“Jabberwocky” can be understood from a linguistic and grammatical perspective, but what is most important in all poetry, is the meaning of the poem. Interpreting a poem like “Jabberwocky” is different than interpreting most other poems. The words in most poems guide you to think of a theme or subject that most people will be able to also see. Carroll gives enough “real” words, such as “sword,” “beware,” and “my son,” that an image of some type of battle has been fought. A sense of the fighter winning against the Jabberwocky seems to restore some kind of order. However, these are vague ideas that can be taken in any direction. “Jabberwocky” is ultimately a child’s poem, “For young children, whose brains are struggling to comprehend language, words are magical in any case; the magic of adults, utterly mysterious; no child can distinguish between “real” words and nonsensical “unreal” words and … [Jabberwocky] has the effect of arousing childish anxiety, and placating it” (Oates). Children may feel anxiety about not knowing how to define, or maybe pronounce the words in the poem, but when read aloud to them a story will develop in their minds. “Jabberwocky,” is essentially an exercise in the rules of grammar, and the imagination of its readers.

The poem’s form follows that of a ballad. A ballad is “a short simple narrative poem… founded on dramatic incidences from the old romances, or upon some older legend” (Deutsch 15). There is a hero, a monster, and an epic battle with the hero as conqueror. Ballads typically come from an oral tradition that has been passed down through generations, with only small changes along the way. They stay reasonably consistent considering the enormity of time from the origin of the legend, to when it is written down. “Jabberwocky” parodies this style because Carroll could use it to prove that sounds create images, not just words. A story can be developed and explained, an image put in one’s mind, all based on sounds. Carroll successfully proves that by creating sounds that follow grammatical rules an interpretation can be derived. The poem has even been translated into other languages. “Jabberwocky,” a nonsense poem, has been translated into Latin, German, French and other languages.

“Jabberwocky” is a poem that has influenced modern culture in surprising ways. It is taught in school as a way to learn to interpret poems. There is a band and short film called Jabberwocky. Jabberwocky has come to mean nonsensical behavior, meaningless language, and is even used in medical jargon for finding mysterious or unexplained phenomena. The beauty and genius of “Jabberwocky” is that children can love it for its funny sounds and easy rhythm, and adults, looking back at it can remember the feeling it gave them when they were children, but can also look at it from their mature perspective and see the manipulation of form and language.








Works Cited
Carroll, Lewis. “Jabberwocky.” 100 Best-Loved Poems. Ed. Philip Smith. New York: Dover, 1995. Print.
---. The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition. Ed. Martin Gardner. New York: Norton, 2000. Print.
Deutsch, Babette. Poetry Handbook: A Dictionary of Terms. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1974. Print.
Oates, Joyce Carol. “First loves: From “Jabberwocky” to “Apple-Picking.’” American Poetry Review 28.6 (1999): n. pag. Ebscohost. Web. 9 Feb. 2010.