English nonsense poetry, thanks to the lyricists of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll, who wrote in the Victorian era 150 years ago, has become a worldwide brand. I would like to give as an example one Limerick with a pun intended to rhyme:
There was an old man from Tobago,
He had an angry dog,
But the ghoul came
And ate that dog
And gobbled up an old man from Tobago.
It is often said that this is the poetry of the absurd. There is no noticeable contradiction, since the absurdum in Latin is “dissonant”, “ridiculous”, “awkward”, while nonsense is “meaningless”. The difference is that when they talk about absurdity, they recall the literature of the 20th century. He emphasizes the meaninglessness and hopelessness of human life and the existence of the world. And the nonsense of the 19th century is different. There is joy in him. It comes from the verses themselves, from the exact form, paradoxical rhymes. There is pleasure in it, which Wordsworth considered the main goal of poetry. Nonsense heroes live more in the world of their dreams than in reality. Aldous Huxley said: "Nonsense is an absurdity that brings us to life."
Who is Charles Lutwich Dodgson (1832 - 1898)?
When a serious person began to publish his humorous poems, he needed a pseudonym. To begin with, he translated his two names into Latin, then changed their places and translated into English. We know the result - Lewis Carroll.
He studied, and then taught mathematics at Oxford, eschewed adults, was friends with children. For Alice, Liddell wrote the story “Alice in Wonderland”, and for Alice Reyks, the story “Alice in the Looking Glass”. The British, going to travel, went to Italy, Greece, France, and he went to Russia. He visited St. Petersburg, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, began to learn Russian. He later released the book Russian Diary. Doctor of Mathematics Lewis Carroll was very fond of the theater, became an excellent photographer, typed his books on a typewriter, and traveled by train. All of these were new to the industrial revolution. In addition, he invented chess for travelers, a device for playing in the dark. As a mathematician, he found a way to check whether numbers are divisible by 17 and 19 and the technique of remembering a long series of numbers. Therefore, he could record the number π and up to 71 decimal places. This is how difficult the doctor of mathematics was, whom we know as the writer Lewis Carroll.
House behind the mirror (Looking-Glass House)
Alice sat and watched her bully black kitten and winded a ball, which he confused.
Alice loved chess and put the kitten on its hind legs so that it turned into a black chess queen. Then, to admire what happened, she went to the mirror.
As if smoke, the mirror was scattered, and after a moment Alice was in the Looking Glass. Summary her adventures will be retold.
What appeared behind the mirror
Everything behind the mirror was not the same as in her room: the portraits were not silent, the clock became a cheerful Old Man Chasovichka and chess pieces were lying in the ashes by the fireplace. No, they were not just scattered, but walked, talked and did not notice Alice. Then the girl picked up the White King and carefully set him on the table to his Queen. From the horror of the flight, he fainted, but quickly came to his senses and said that he would never forget this nightmare. “Forget it,” the queen promised, “if you don’t write it down.” The king pulled out a notebook and quickly marked something. Alice became interested, and she wanted to read what was written. But there were strange doodles. “We need to attach this to the mirror,” Alice decided in the Looking Glass (a summary of the tale is outlined here). She read, the words were familiar, but the meaning slipped away. Then Alice decided to look into the garden.
Garden of fresh flowers (The Garden of Live Flowers)
Having flown out of the room (oh, what an unusual way of transportation she had!), Alice saw a high mountain on the street that she couldn’t get into, always returning to the wall of the house. Then she drew attention to the flowers. They had fun talking and gave Alice advice to go in the opposite direction, just then she would get where she was going. This is an unusual country that Carroll created! Alice in the Looking Glass did just that and was at the foot of an inaccessible hill and next to the Black Queen. Alice saw that this was not a simple country, but a special chessboard. The cells are separated by hedges and streams. Alice wanted to play chess, even if she would be a pawn. The Queen promised to put Alice on the Second Cell, and if the girl gets to the Eighth, she will become the Queen. This is possible not only in real life. Alice in the Looking Glass (a summary, full of mysteries and conventions, if you run ahead) will be able to do this. The queen gave instructions to the girl, told how to move through the cells and whom she would meet, and disappeared from sight.
Insects in the Looking Glass
Around Alice, instead of bees, elephants fluttered. Alice jumped over a stream and found herself on a train with extraordinary passengers.
It was Kozel and the Beetle, and the controller looked at Alice through a telescope, then through a microscope. The engine suddenly boomed, took off and disappeared. Alice found herself under a tree and talked to a mosquito the size of a rooster.
Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Alice was already on the fourth line, on which she met two pugnacious and grouchy fat men.
They led her to the sleeping Black King, and dearly told a poem about the Walrus and the Carpenter.
Wool and water
Suddenly, someone shawl flew over Alice, and the girl began to look around, looking for the mistress. The whole disheveled White Queen jumped out to her, which Alice began to put in order. And she in return promised to treat the girl with jam tomorrow, specifying that tomorrow will never come. When it comes, it happens today. Suddenly, the Queen turned into a Sheep, who sat in a grocery store and knitted on knitting needles.
Suddenly, the shop became a boat, the needles became oars, and they sailed along the stream. And then everything disappeared: both Sheep and Alice found themselves in a cramped shop again. The girl asked for an egg, which turned into a man named Humpty Dumpty. Talking to him, she was completely baffled. Familiar words took on unknown meanings. This feature was found not only in Humpty Dumpty, but later among many residents of this amazing country. Alice in the Looking Glass (the summary of the work is retold here) began to gradually adapt to miracles and absurdities.
Finally, the girl reached the eighth line and felt the weight of the crown on her head.
A feast was held in her honor, but the preparation for it and the holiday itself were more than strange. Alice got angry and grabbed the
Black Queen with her hand and began to shake her.
But it turned out that she was holding a black kitten in her hand. She woke up? So who did it all dream of (Which Dreamed it?)? “Ah, the cat,” Alice interrogated him, “did I dream about it or the Black King?” But the kitten only played and did not give an answer.
What do readers think
All readers note that the books of Lewis Carroll are not only children's. They are characterized by parody, puns, puns. The author skillfully turns tangled human relationships into a game. From a pawn, Alice should turn into a queen, participating along the way in various adventures with fantastic characters. A storm of positive feedback, very often analytical, is caused by the fairy tale story “Alice through the Looking Glass”. The reviews are written long and lengthy, indicating that no one remained indifferent to the creation of Lewis Carroll.