The Hunting of the Snark, subtitled An Agony, in Eight 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 portmanteau words from Carroll's earlier poem "Jabberwocky" in his children's novel Through the Looking-Glass (1871).
Cover of first edition
Henry Holiday's illustration of the hunt. Note accompanying Hope (midground, with anchor) and Care (background, shrouded).
The Bellman landing the Banker by entwining a finger in the Banker's hair
The Butcher (left) and the Beaver (right) looking sideways
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician and photographer. His most notable works are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass (1871). He was noted for his facility with word play, logic, and fantasy. His poems Jabberwocky (1871) and The Hunting of the Snark (1876) are classified in the genre of literary nonsense.
Carroll in 1857
Lewis Carroll self-portrait c. 1856, aged 24 at that time
1863 photograph of Carroll by Oscar G. Rejlander
The Jabberwock, as illustrated by John Tenniel for Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, including the poem "Jabberwocky"