Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 00:38:48 -0800 (PST)
From: StreetWrites 
Subject: {poetry} In the Beginning, Part 3

Fun with Words #2
-----------------

Twas brillig and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe.
All mimsy were the borogroves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

	-- Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll

	There is a great shortcut to not being able to find the right word.

	Make one up.

	If you are really, really good at it, your word will catch on with
other people and eventually enter the common language and be printed in
standard dictionaries. 

	Even if that doesn't happen - it's FUN.

	Lewis Carroll actually wrote explanations of at least some of the
words he used in Jabberwocky.  I have a serious suspicion that the
explanations were about as serious as Jabberwocky, but they are almost as
much fun to read. 

	The following is an excerpt from the prologue to "The Hunting of
the Snark".
                             ------------------         

     As this poem is to some extent connected with the lay of the
Jabberwock, let me take this opportunity of answering a question that
has often been asked me, how to pronounce "slithy toves."  The "i" in
"slithy" is long, as in "writhe"; and "toves" is pronounced so as to
rhyme with "groves."  Again, the first "o" in "borogoves" is
pronounced like the "o" in "borrow."  I have heard people try to give
it the sound of the "o" in "worry."  Such is Human Perversity.

     This also seems a fitting occasion to notice the other hard
works in that poem.  Humpty-Dumpty's theory, of two meanings packed
into one word like a portmanteau, seems to me the right explanation
for all.

     For instance, take the two words "fuming" and "furious."  Make
up your mind that you will say both words, but leave it unsettled
which you will say first.  Now open your mouth and speak.  If your
thoughts incline ever so little towards "fuming," you will say
"fuming-furious;" if they turn, by even a hair's breadth, towards
"furious," you will say "furious-fuming;" but if you have the rarest
of gifts, a perfectly balanced mind, you will say "frumious."

                             ------------------         

	I wanted to play, too, after reading that, so I wrote:

                             Seattle Jabberwalk
                             ------------------         
   
          Seattle, and the wriving blobes 
          Did sime and bimble in the mair.
          The frimsy ecyule bemmy'obes,
          And the pome groech outwair.
          
          "Beware the Sub Yum Guk, my son!
          Kimchee that bites! Ivar's that catch!
          Beware the Seahawk Bird, and shun
          The Slug No Whale Can Match!"
          
          He took his sonner blade in hand,
          Long time the gingrich foe he sought;
          Then rested he by the Esook Tree
          And stood awhile in thought.
          
          And as in epoph thought he stood,
          The Sub Yum Guk, peppers aflame,
          Came skorming through the cringly wood,
          And burbled as it came!
          
          One-two, one-two, and through and through,
          His sonner blade went snickersnack!
          He cut it dead, and with its head
          The big galumph ran back.
          
          "And hast thou slain the Sub Yum Guk?
          Seattle's safe from Chinese Food?
          Oh Thaizza day! Calloo Callay!
          Let's go write something good."
          
    ________________________________________________________________________
                                        
                                  Footnotes:
                                       
  wriving 
  writhing+jiving
  
  blobes 
  globular blokes
  
  sime 
  street singing and mime
  
  bimble 
  nimbly bumming money
  
  mair 
  market+fair
  
  frimsy 
  freely spending money on whimsical gadgets,
  like a one-cup espresso maker that works over
  a campfire and fits in your backpack
  
  ecyule 
  ecologically and socially sensitive yuppies,
  who frimsy
  
  bemmy'obes 
  got into their BMW's
  
  pome 
  poets, at home in coffeehouses
  
  groech 
  grunge poets, with money, who drink
  exotic coffee and hang out all day
  
  outwair 
  wore out their chairs
  
  Sub Yum Guk 
  Chinese food
  
  Kimchee 
  Korean food
  
  Ivar's 
  Well-Advertised food
  
  sonner 
  Sonics+Mariners
  referring to two bands of aspiring heroes whom
  local legend says will conquer all foes,
  someday.
  someday.
  someday.
  
  gingrich 
  a bit of real nonsense
  
  Esook 
  espresso+book
  required elements in the resting habitats
  of the Seattle Native
  
  epoph 
  philosophy espressed in a series of
  self-conscious epigrams.
  the usual mode of thought in Esooks.
  
  Sub Yum Guk 
  I told you this one already.
  
  skorming 
  skirling+storming
  the effect of a bagpipe band bearing down on you
  
  cringly 
  cringing, with hands over tingly ears.
  the common reaction to skorming.
  
  Thaizza 
  Thai food + pizza
  the two main Seattle foods

Exercise:
---------

Pick one of the following situations and write a poem of at least twenty 
lines telling the story, in words of your own invention.

1) Two ten-year-olds have an epic pillow fight.

2) On the way to an urgent appointment, you spend two hours looking for a 
parking space.

3) You once again evade doing laundry or dishes, for the 90th day in a 
row, in spite of all problems this is creating.  (Nobody else in your 
household is doing them either.)

4) Your favorite sports team wins a close-fought game.

Then include a set of footnotes explaining the origins of each word.  Be
as scholarly or as absurd as you please.

Guidelines for critique:
-----------------------

1) Did the sound of the nonsense words flow along with the rest of the 
language?

2) Did you have a sense, before reading the footnotes, that the nonsense
words actually meant something, if you could just figure it out? 

3) How much can you figure out of the meaning intended, from the context 
of the words, their construction, or other clues, before reading the
footnotes?

4) Did the sound, or other qualities, of the created words add to the 
sense and enjoyment of the poem?

5) Were the footnotes also fun to read?

Critiques may also address other aspects of the poetry, but be sure to
cover the above points.

Write On!
Anitra
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
     "Beware of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup."  ABS
	   anitra@speakeasy.org   http://www.speakeasy.org/~anitra
	   thalia@speakeasy.org   http://www.speakeasy.org/~thalia

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