Re: Jabberwocky

Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Sat, 7 Dec 1996 20:45:06 -0600

At 5:23 PM -0600 12/7/96, Jonathan Robie wrote:
> At 5:09 PM -600 12/7/96, Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>>As for Jabberwocky--you started it! You have to finish it. I might write
>>out Aristophanes' chorus of frogs (BREKEKEKEK KOAX KOAX), but how to
>>translate nonsense syllables into Greek is beyond me. I'll sit this one
>>out, I think.
>
>You're cruel, Carl! Can I at least ask how I'm doing so far? I'll finish off
>the stanza myself if I don't get any takers, but I probably won't go beyond
>that in public (although I might try to do so in private, get some feedback,
>and post the results).
>
>I had hoped people would have fun with this, but it hasn't caught on yet...

Okay, IMHO the better candidate for exportation into Greek verse would be
"The Walrus and the Carpenter." It is silly enough, but loose enough that
one could probably work successfully on a composite version (although I
wonder whether B-Greek is the appropriate place for it!). If I were going
to tackle the Jabberwocky, I think I'd prefer to start with that triumphant
stanza:

"TON IABEROUAK KATEKTONAS?
S' ASPAZOMAI, FAEINE PAI!
KALWN KALLISTH hHMERWN!"
ECAIRE KAGKAZWN.

HN BRILLIG, hAI D' APOSTROFAI
GURWSAI OUABON HSTRAPTON,
hHSUCASAN MEN BORGOBOI,
MWMRHS D' EXESTHSAN.

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO, USA 63130
(314) 935-4018
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cwc@oui.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/