An illustrated version of the classic nonsense poem from "Through the Looking Glass."

The first collected and annotated edition of Carroll's brilliant, witty poems, edited by Gillian Beer. 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves / Did gyre and gimble in the wabe...' wrote Lewis Carroll in his wonderfully playful poem of nonsense verse, 'Jabberwocky'. This new edition collects together the marvellous range of Carroll's poetry, including nonsense verse, parodies, burlesques, and more. Alongside the title piece are such enduringly wonderful pieces as 'The Walrus and the Carpenter', 'The Mock Turtle's Song', 'Father William' and many more. This edition also includes notes, a chronology and an introduction by Gillian Beer that discusses Carroll's love of puzzles and wordplay and the relationship of his poetry with the Alice books 'Opening at random Gillian Beer's new edition of Lewis Carroll's poems, Jabberwocky and Other Nonsense, guarantees a pleasurable experience - not all of it nonsensical' - Times Literary Supplement Lewis Carroll was the pen-name of the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. Born in 1832, he was educated at Rugby School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he was appointed lecturer in mathematics in 1855, and where he spent the rest of his life. In 1861 he took deacon's orders, but shyness and a stammer prevented him from seeking the priesthood. His most famous works, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1872), were originally written for Alice Liddell, the daughter of the Dean of his college. Charles Dodgson died of bronchitis in 1898. Gillian Beer is King Edward VII Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Cambridge and past President of Clare Hall College. She is a Fellow of the British Academy and of the Royal Society of Literature. Among her works are Darwin's Plots (1983; third edition, 2009), George Eliot (1986), Arguing with the Past: Essays in Narrative from Woolf to Sidney (1989), Open Fields: Science in Cultural Encounter (1996) and Virginia Woolf: The Common Ground (1996).

Includes 38 nonsense verses and parodies: "The Walrus and the Carpenter," "Father William," "My Fancy," "A Sea Dirge," "Hiawatha's Photographing," "The Mad Gardener's Song," "Poeta Fit, non Nascitur," and many others.

With fantastic characters and enchanting language, Lewis Carroll created magical wonderlands which children have always loved to visit. This work contains 26 selections from his works, along with vocabulary and context notes.

From much-quoted classics like 'The Owl and the Pussy-cat' and 'Jabberwocky' to the epic adventure 'The Hunting of the Snark', the nonsense poems of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear have a freshness and a sense of fun that still speak to children of all ages. These two masters of the absurd created characters that have entranced generation after generation: the Walrus and the Carpenter, the Dong with the Luminous Nose and the Quangle Wangle Quee are just a handful of the remarkable creatures to be found in these pages. Whether shared aloud or enjoyed on your own, these verses will continue to delight for years to come.

Today, Lewis Carroll is best remembered as a writer of juvenile fiction responsible for such timeless works as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. However, Carroll was also a poet who wove dark visions and supernatural themes into his substantial body of work. Much of the verse collected in Phantasmagoria and Other Poems has a supernatural or visionary theme. A must-read for fans of Victorian ghost stories.

"Children are poets before they grow up and they should live with poems. I hope this book will encourage them to do so."—Eleanor Roosevelt Beloved and treasured for over 60 years, here is the only poetry collection your family needs—brimming with favorite, classic poems carefully selected to inspire young readers. Over 700 classic and modern poems written by poets from William Shakespeare to J. R. R. Tolkien, Emily Dickinson to Langston Hughes, and covering a range of favorite topics—pets, playtime, family, nature, and nonsense—ensure that there’s a poem to please every child. A truly comprehensive collection that is the ideal way of introducing children to the joys of reading poetry. "If your children think they don't like poetry, expose them to this collection . . . and I defy them to resist its magic."—Kirkus "A fine book for parents to read aloud to their children."—Library Journal "This volume stands out for the comprehensiveness of its selection."—The Horn Book