Question #ea35b
1 Answer
FUN STUFF! Rhyming words that sound like they should mean something, but are complete nonsense.
Explanation:
Such a fun poem! While it has a plot and conclusion, it is meaningless to anything. The fun of the opening stanza is the use of words that SOUND like they might be just beyond the reader's knowledge, but really are nonsense anyway. Are WE ignorant? Did we miss a clever point? Or, is the author just playing a joke on us?
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
To write a similar piece, what could we do? Lewis Carroll defined his words later. "Brillig" was a made-up time. "Slithy" was a combination of slimy and lithe. "Gyre" and "gimble" evoke swaying or dancing movements, but are not defined specifically as such. And so on for the other words.
What matters is the flow, the feeling and the cadence, sweeping the reader along on a fanciful side trip (this is just a small part of Alice's Adventures) of whimsy.
Combine your own common words, or make some up that SOUND like the object or feeling. Dr. Seuss may be another good source of inspiration for this type of poetry.
Sniggery snaggery, flappery doo,
the shishamagig is looking for you.
Climmer and slammer won't jimble the wong,
Farster the thimble must pay for each song.
PLAY with it!! :D
