This is the poem that so puzzled Alice, and which Humpty-Dumpty finally
explained to her. The theme of that frightful beast, the Jabberwock, is
first announced by the full orchestra. The clarinet then begins the
tale, recounting how on a “brillig” afternoon, the “slithy toves did
gyre and gimble in the wabe.” Muttered imprecations by the bassoon warn
us to “beware the Jabberwock, my son.” A miniature march signalizes the
approach of our hero, taking “his vorpal sword in hand.” Trouble starts
among the trombones—the Jabberwock is upon us. The battle with the
monster is recounted in a short and rather repellent fugue, the double
basses bringing up the subject and the hero fighting back in the
interludes. Finally his vorpal blade (really a xylophone) goes
“snicker-snack” and the monster, impersonated by the solo bassoon, dies
a lingering and convulsive death. The hero returns to the victorious
strains of his own theme—“O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!” The whole
orchestra rejoices—the church bells are rung—alarums and excursions.
Conclusion. Once more the “slithy toves” perform their pleasing
evolutions, undisturbed by the uneasy ghost of the late Jabberwock.