Lewis Carroll - Henry Holiday - Hunting of the Snark - Plate 8

The Snark is a fictional animal

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

created by

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

. This creature appears in his nonsense poem ''

The Hunting of the Snark ''The Hunting of the Snark'', subtitled ''An Agony in 8 Fits'', is a poem by the English writer Lewis Carroll. It is typically categorised as a nonsense poem. Written between 1874 and 1876, it borrows the setting, some creatures, and eight por ...

.'' His descriptions of the creatures were, in his own words, unimaginable, and he wanted that to remain so.''The Annotated Snark'', edited by Martin Gardner, Penguin Books, 1974

The origin of the poem

According to Carroll, the initial inspiration to write the poem – which he called an ''agony in eight fits'' – was the final line, ''For the snark was a boojum, you see''. Carroll was asked repeatedly to explain the snark. In all cases, his answer was he did not know and could not explain. Later commentators have offered many analyses of the work. One such likens the contemporary

Commissioners in Lunacy The Commissioners in Lunacy or Lunacy Commission were a public body established by the Lunacy Act 1845 to oversee asylums and the welfare of mentally ill people in England and Wales. It succeeded the Metropolitan Commissioners in Lunacy. Previou ...

individually to the ten hunters, noting that Carroll's favourite uncle,

Skeffington Lutwidge Admiral Skeffington Lutwidge (13 March 1737 – 15/16 August 1814) was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He had a particular connection wi ...

, himself a member of the commission had, like the poem's Baker, met his end in a "chasm"—Lutwidge was murdered by an asylum inmate called McKave.

Descriptions of the snark

The poem describes several varieties of snark. Some have feathers and bite, and some have whiskers and scratch. The ''boojum'' is a particular variety of snark, which causes the baker at the end of the poem to "softly and suddenly vanish away, and never be met with again". The Bellman in the poem describes "five unmistakable marks" that identify a snark. One, the snark's flavour; "meager and hollow, but crisp" (apparently like a coat too tight in the waist). Two, it sleeps late into the day, waking near five in the afternoon. Three, it dislikes jokes, especially puns. Four, it likes bathing-machines, and carries them with it wherever it goes. Fifth and last, it is ambitious. The Baker relays his uncle's narration, which says that a snark prepared as a meal is served with greens, and is "handy for striking a light"; the Annotated Snark suggests that this could mean either that its skin is useful for striking

match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

es on, or that it breathes fire. The domain of the snark is an island filled with chasms and crags, very distant from England. On the same island may also be found other creatures such as the jubjub and

bandersnatch A bandersnatch is a fictional creature in Lewis Carroll's 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass'' and his 1874 poem ''The Hunting of the Snark''. Although neither work describes the appearance of a bandersnatch in great detail, in ''The Hunting ...

. The snark is a peculiar creature that cannot be captured in a commonplace way. Above all, courage is required during a snark hunt. The most common method is to seek it with thimbles, care, forks, and hope. One may also "threaten its life with a railway share" or "charm it with smiles and soap".

References

External links

Lewis Carroll – illustrated Hunting of the Snark

The Institute of Snarkology

Lewis Carroll Resources
{{Alice Lewis Carroll characters

The origin of the poem

Descriptions of the snark

See also

References

External links