Poetic Devices In The Poem Jabberwocky

Throughout the Victorian era, poetry was used to express ideologies of individuals portraying both dominant and opposing views. 'Jabberwocky ', one of Lewis Carroll 's most successful pieces, had significantly altered the perspective that audiences had on reality by challenging these more dominant ideologies. This poem must be incorporated into the anthology, 'The Best Poems in the English Language ', as it presents ideologies through themes that challenge those dominant of the Victorian era.

The Victorian era, which took place between the years of 1837-1901, was the period of Queen Victoria 's reign, which brought about change to the economy; new use of language, and views on religion. Essentially, the Victorian era contradicted all of

Carroll successfully captivates his audience through the use of poetic devices in the poem 'Jabberwocky '. Poets use poetic devices as tools to enhance meaning, create rhythm, or to set a specific mood or emotion (Wilson, n.d). 'Jabberwocky ', consisting of seven stanzas, contains a predominant ABAB end rhyme scheme, with the exception of the occasional internal rhyme, meaning the rhyme occurs within a single line. "He left it dead, and with its head, ' in this case it is the words 'dead ' and 'head '. Carroll incorporates rhyme to set a flowing rhythm to entice audiences when recited. Onomatopoeia has been used to imitate sounds, allowing readers to become more involved with the poem. Words such as 'Jubjub ', 'Tumtum ', and 'snicker-snack ' are all examples of onomatopoeia, 'snicker-snack ' being the more obvious one as it describes the sound of a sword: "The vorpal blade went snicker-snack". Assonance and consonance are two other poetic devices present in 'Jabberwocky '. Carroll has applied assonance, the repetition of a vowel in a line or sentence of a poem, to assist with the rhythm. "Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogroves," although on two separate lines, 'gimble ' and 'mimsy ' are still considered as assonance due to the identical vowel sound present in both words, giving the stanza a free-flowing rhythm. Consonance, the repetition of a consonant in a line or sentence of a poem, is also used to create a steady rhythm in 'Jabberwocky '. This is evident in the second line of the sixth stanza where it states: "Come to my arms, my beamish boy", in which the 'm ' is present in majority of the words. The poetic devices applied in 'Jabberwocky ' assist in the enhancement of the themes, and set a solid rhythm,