O Frabjous Day!

by Lewis Carroll

'I cried, "Come, tell me how you live!"
And thumped him on the head.'

Conjuring wily walruses, dancing lobsters, a Jabberwock and a Bandersnatch, Carroll's fantastical verse gave new words to the English language.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Fiction, Fantasy, British Literature, Short Stories

56 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1871

About the author

The Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer.

His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass as well as the poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky", all considered to be within the genre of literary nonsense.

Oxford scholar, Church of England Deacon, University Lecturer in Mathematics and Logic, academic author of learned theses, gifted pioneer of portrait photography, colourful writer of imaginative genius and yet a shy and pedantic man, Lewis Carroll stands pre-eminent in the pantheon of inventive literary geniuses.

He also has works published under his real name.

Reviews

[Kitty G Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful to read. Some of these poems I already knew as they abbreviated versions from Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass but there were also some entirely new ones which I'd never read and which were excellent too!

I will say this is a super quick read (being a tiny book) but I honestly think it's well worth making sure to read it out loud as the poems all work SO MUCH better when the rhythm and pace and intonation is added to them. I read this whole book aloud and loved it :) 4*s overall

[leynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to be very upfront with you: Lewis Carroll doesn't write my kind of poetry. I am not a huge fan of satire in this overly funny/ simple/ nursing-rhyme-kind of way and so by default Carroll's poetry should fall flat for me. But that isn't the case. [insert Bethoven's 5th here, please]

As some of you may know I study linguistics, and I am very interested in the different ways authors play with language and I am just in awe of Carroll's skill. You can say a lot about him – but not that he doesn't know his craft.

Even though I found most of the poems in regards to their content rather silly, I couldn't help but admire the rhymes and cleverness with which Carroll expressed them. His poetry flowed extremely well and was just made to be read out loud. Trust me, it doubles the fun!

'Sister, do not raise my wrath.
I'd make you into mutton broth
As easily as kill a moth.'

The sister raised her beaming eye
And looked on him indignantly
And sternly answered, 'Only try!'

Off to the cook he quickly ran,
'Dear cook, pray lend a frying pan
To me, as quickly as you can.'

'And wherefore should I give it to you?'
'The reason, cook, is plain to view,
I wish to make an Irish stew.'

So Carroll isn't necessarily talking about the typical topics poets muse about like love, loss and death, no, he is rather focusing on the everyday troubles of people – sibling relationships, married life, the problems with the educational system, the little injustices we witness everyday.

My initial point still stands, by the way, this is not my kind of poetry, but it was actually nice for a change. Carroll's poems really reminded me of Ringelnatz's work who took a similar approach to poetry and satire.

A lot of the poems were already featured in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland which is why they weren't new to me, but it was really nice revisiting them and the nonsense and joy they bring, especially the Mock Turtle Song is one that I will never get enough of. I am just completely enchanted by Carroll's creativity and originality.

My favorite poem of the collection was probably The Walrus and the Carpenter - a narrative poem that already appeared in Through the Looking-Glass. In it the two titular characters trick a group of oysters into helping them, and then end up eating them all. It's a fun tale which leaves room for many interesting interpretations. Are the walrus and the carpenter metaphors for Buddha and Jesus, or if we want to get more political: the US and the UK? Is it Carroll's take on Darwin's theory, or does it have no underlying meaning at all?

So, in fear of repeating myself I will leave it at that: Lewis Carroll is incredibly gifted and I did not expect to enjoy myself as much as I did reading his poetry. His rhymes are fantastic, he is ridiculously funny, and if you want to, you can even find a deeper meaning in his words. I can't wait to read his poetry for years to come and share my love with other people. O frabjous day!

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

What pleasurable read. A book of nonsence that had me smilling and reliving moments of my childhood.

Highly recommended.

[JK · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an utterly delightful little collection of nonsense.

Carroll’s rhymes are glorious, witty, and absolutely made to be read out loud. The rhythm and flow is always perfect, and I spent a gorgeous hour in my reading corner speaking them aloud.

The subject matter is ridiculous, his invented words sublime, and I must stop describing my mood as either frabjous, frumious (a particular favourite), or uffish.

I just couldn’t get enough. I’ll leave you with the greatest poetry finale ever written:

“O Oysters,” said the Carpenter,
“You’ve had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?”
But answer came there none -
And this was scarcely odd because
They’d been eaten every one.

[Niki (nikilovestoread) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun collection of verses by Lewis Carroll. Many of them appear in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and The Hunting of the Snark. A quick and easy read with all Carroll's irresistible, craziness.

[Lör K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cried, “Come, tell me how you live!” And thumped him on the head.

Lewis Carroll is probably one of the most renowned English classical authors, most known for his work, the Alice in Wonderland series. As I prepare to sit and read through the AiW series, I decided to order the Little Black Classic of O frabjous day!, a collection of poems from Carroll’s Jabberwocky and Other Nonsense: Collected Poems . The Jabberwocky is something most known from Alice in Wonderland, with Frabjous Day being a celebration most known from Tim Burton’s adaption of the classical book, and truth be told, I am super excited to sit and read through these poems.

Ratings of Each Poem:

Brother and Sister: 4/5
The Two Brothers: 4.5/5
The Dear Gazelle: 3/5
[“How doth the little crocodile”]: 4/5
[“You are old, Father William,” the young man said’]: 4/5
[“The Mock Turtle’s Song: I]: 4.5/5
[‘Tis the voice of the Lobster: I heard him declare]: 4/5
Jabberwocky: 5/5
The Walrus and the Carpenter: 4.5/5
[The White Knight’s Song]: 3.5/5
[The Gardener’s Song]: 3/5
from The Hunting of the Snark: 5/5

Overall Rating: 4/5

As some people may notice, a lot of these poems are specific parts of the story of Alice in Wonderland. If you remember the original animated film, a lot of these will be something familiar, most noted, The Walrus and the Carpenter, and ’Tis the voice of the Lobster.

I feel like maybe Penguin put a bit too much of Alice in Wonderland in this, rather than focusing around that being one of his main works, and showing more of his talent, rather than just bringing it mostly back to AiW, and that was a little bit of a let down, honestly. I would love to see more from him, to be able to converse through his works more than what a lot of classic collections of his allow, but, none the less, I adore it.

This is full of humour, and strange poems that really make me chuckle and make me laugh out loud. Carroll is a wonder of poetry, and I wonder about his sanity sometimes. One of the best British poets, in my opinion, this is a mix of humour, serious, and literature that brings things into perspective. Life is too short! Laugh! Have a laugh, it’s deserved.

This is a wonderful collection of poetry, and I suspect that I will be reading it plenty on in life, and keeping it on my bookshelf for a long while. I’m definitely interested in reading Jabberwocky and Other Nonsense: Collected Poems after this, and just cannot wait to read AiW after this poetry collection.

[Tarlan A. Latif]

Again Lewis Carroll, his sweet way of storytelling and funny poems. No matter how old I am, I will always feel like kiddo when I read Lewis.

Just loved it.

[Marjolein (UrlPhantomhive) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

I am not overly familiar with Lewis Carroll's work since I never liked Alice in Wonderland too much (the movies, never read the books). His poetry was completely new to me, but after I recently read Edward Lear's nonsense poetry (which was being compared as similar to Lewis Carroll) I was not looking forward to reading O Frabjous Day!. But, every week a Little Black Classics means reading one every week, so here we are.

My expectations were really low for this one, but I found it made at least way more sense than the Lear poems. Some of them still didn't resonance with me at all. But the hunting of the Snark was kind of nice, even though the rhyming was very nursery rhyme-y.

~Little Black Classics #106~

[Suzy Espersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm quite confident it'll make much more sense if one has read Through the Looking Glass first - which I haven't.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

So fun & charming, but also some of the poems gave me chills like the old ‘Alice in Wonderland’ live-action movie.

[ki]

Lewis Carroll certainly had a gift for coining words.

[Katrina Southern · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book a little while ago actually, for my birthday, and I had a hankering to read some more poetry so thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do so. I adore these Penguin 'little black classics' and wish to own more of them actually (I'm really eyeing up the box set!). Good, short reads that are often lesser-known works of fiction and non-fiction from classic, beloved authors! This is of course a collection of poems by Lewis Carroll, of 'Alice In Wonderland' fame and my second shot at some poetry this month!

What I loved most of all about these reads were the fact that I recognised a fair few of them. Readers (and watchers) of 'Alice In Wonderland' will recognise poems such as 'The Walrus & The Carpenter', 'How Doth The Little Crocodile' and 'You Are Old Father William' as shortened versions appear in that novel. This collection also includes Carroll's famous 'Jabberwocky' too, which was a nice touch. I have to say, my favourite of the collection was 'from The Hunting Of The Snark' because it all felt very clever, and light-hearted fun. Carroll is very famous for wordplay and this collection certainly demonstrates that! I didn't like some of the others in this collection quite so much as Carroll had a very nonsensical style and it didn't work quite so well in poems such as 'The Two Brothers', 'The White Knight's Song' or 'The Dear Gazelle' (which felt very short and unfinished). The works were presented in an interesting fashion however and were most satisfying to read aloud.

[Fadillah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm literally lost. This is utterly nonsensical or i just dont understand the beauty of Lewis Caroll's poems. *sigh. I think i will re-read this book with a complete guide from google or wikipedia to understand it better. I have to admit i suck so bad at literature so please dont mind me giving him 3 stars.

[Katie Wood · Rating 2 out of 5]

enjoyed the first few stories but the last one (which is the majority of the book) was complete nonsense!

[Mia 🌱 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland. It's strange and cute and wonderful.

[Chloe Edwards · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked a few poems in this books but some were pretty terrifying, they went from fun childish poems to dark and kind of morbid. It was a definitely an interesting read but not a favourite!

[Twig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Carrolls writing ..
I had read all of this before but I like to have this little treasure in my collection.

[kit kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

crying over baby oysters (episode twenty-six)

[Andy Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lewis Carroll "O frabjous day!" (Penguin Classics #106)

Rather dull until 'from The Hunting of the Snark', which is brilliantly funny. ****

"He had forty-two boxes, all carefully packed,
With his name painted clearly on each:
But, since he omitted to mention the fact,
They were all left behind on the beach." (p32)

"He had bought a large map representing the sea,
Without the least vestige of land:
And the crew were much pleased when they found it to be
A map they could all understand." (p35)

"'My father and mother were honest, though poor-'
'Skip all that!' cried the Bellman in haste.
'If it once becomes dark, there's no chance of a Snark -
We have hardly a minute to waste!'" (p39)

"'There is a Thingumbob shouting!'.."(p52)

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always enjoyed Lewis Carroll’s works, as a way to cleanse the palate when reading something else, but this time I was able to just enjoy the poems for themselves and not have to wonder about the way that they fit in the wider world that Carroll has created.

I’m glad that this included my favourite poem ‘The Walrus and the Carpenter’ and I’m glad that I was able to go back to that poem and enjoy it again as an adult.

Carroll’s poetry isn’t overly complicated to understand but at first glance can seem to be confusing, but once you get into the swing of things it becomes as lot easier. And then you get to enjoy the poems for themselves.

[siege is tired · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️ stars


‘Of shoes - and ships - and sealing-wax
Of cabbages - and kings - And why the sea is boiling hot - And whether pigs have wings.'

this book wasn’t something i was expecting a five star read out of, but i was expecting better than a two star book at least.

this book was poorly organised with the poems simple chucked in with varied formatting & no real order or even titles of where they came from (a very simple detail which would’ve added much needed context).

i also found the poem that takes up about half the book quite boring and i wish it kept to shorter and more interesting poems instead.

[Weronika Zimna · Rating 3 out of 5]

'But wait a bit,' the Oysters cried,
Before we have our chat:
For some of us are out of breath
And all of us are fat!'

It contain some lovely poems and hilarious lines but, sadly, I only liked the first part of this tiny book. The second part contains poems from the Hunting on the Snark>, which failed to impress me. The first one, on the other hand, was great. Some Alice-ish poems and some I have never encountered before. The Mock Turtle's Song I is still my fav and it was nice to get to know it in English.

[Jill · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Portmanteau"
Boojum - something that vanishes.
Nonsense poems
Hidden meaning for the search for happiness? Snark is an allegory for happiness?

Speaking of Snark, Fit the Sixth wasn't included and so I had to look it up online. Where was the editor on this?

An hour of my life I'll never get back. Torture. Had you YouTube orations just to get through it. Carroll had serous issues.

#ISATRAT shortest book challenge 2017.

Conclusion in a word: jaberwocky

[Maria M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of Lewis Carroll songs/poems. I still think the Jabberwocky is my favorite, but 'How doth the little crocodile', 'You are old, Father William', and The Walrus and the Carpenter' are fun to read since they make me think of watching the animated Disney movie as a kid.

[Brit McCarthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic Lewis Carroll nonsense and fun, from the Jabberwocky book of poems. The poems flow really well and in rhythm and contain many of Carroll's trademark made up words. A bit of a fun before getting back into an intense fantasy read!

[Lily anja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another T2 Christmas gifted tea. The tea flavour was pineapple cherry pie and included this book. I liked the book and seeing origins on words and stories I hadn’t realised was his work before. Would read again.

[Felicia Hellqvist · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 starr rating

One word.

AMAZING!

[Shruti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witty and creative as hell!

[Lera Ovsienko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Qa

[Laura D. Molina M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5