All in the golden afternoon (Poem by Lewis Carroll, 1865)

NOTE

This poem is about the boating party in the Summer of 1862. As ever with Dodgson it is laced with a lethal wit. Here Dodgson jokingly identifies himself as the "wary one" the storyteller, Prima is Lorina, Secunda is Alice, and Tertia is Edith. The three Liddell sisters who along with Canon Robinson Duckworth, heard the tale of Alice over the summer. In the poem, they are jokingly referred to as the "cruel three", the people that make the teller of the Alice tale keep going. The "dreamchild" that is in this poem refers to the fictional Alice. Dodgson always took great pains to differentiate the fictional Alice of his stories from his friend Alice Liddell. 

ALL in the golden afternoon

Full leisurely we glide;

For both our oars, with little skill,

By little arms are plied,

While little hands make vain pretence

Our wanderings to guide.

Ah, cruel Three! In such an hour,

Beneath such dreamy weather,

To beg a tale of breath too weak

To stir the tiniest feather!

Yet what can one poor voice avail

Against three tongues together?

Imperious Prima flashes forth

Her edict 'to begin it' -

In gentler tone Secunda hopes

'There will be nonsense in it!' -

While Tertia interrupts the tale

Not more than once a minute.

Anon, to sudden silence won,

In fancy they pursue

The dream-child moving through a land

Of wonders wild and new,

In friendly chat with bird or beast -

And half believe it true.

And ever, as the story drained

The wells of fancy dry,

And faintly strove that weary one

To put the subject by,

"The rest next time -" "It is next time!"

The happy voices cry.

Thus grew the tale of Wonderland:

Thus slowly, one by one,

Its quaint events were hammered out -

And now the tale is done,

And home we steer, a merry crew,

Beneath the setting sun.

Alice! a childish story take,

And with gentle hand

Lay it were Childhood's dreams are twined

In Memory's mystic band,

Like pilgrim's wither'd wreath of flowers

Pluck'd in a far-off land. 

Horrors (Early Carroll Poem)

This is one of my favourite early poems by Carroll. 

Not only does it parody gothic literature, here Carroll hones his dream narrative writing craft. 

A modest start, but it does foreshadow Carroll's later use of dreams quite nicely!

Methought I walked a dismal place

  Dim horrors all around;

The air was thick with many a face,

  And black as night the ground.

I saw a monster come with speed,

  Its face of grimmliest green,

On human beings used to feed,

  Most dreadful to be seen.

I could not speak, I could not fly,

  I fell down in that place,

I saw the monster’s horrid eye

  Come leering in my face!

Amidst my scarcely-stifled groans,

  Amidst my moanings deep,

I heard a voice, 

“Wake! Mr. Jones, 

you’re screaming in your sleep!”

Facts (Early Carroll poem)

Were I to take an iron gun,
And fire it off towards the sun;
I grant ‘twould reach its mark at last,
But not till many years had passed.

But should the bullet change its force,
And to the planets take its course,
'Twould never reach the nearest star,
Because it is so very far. 

Rules and regulations (early Carroll poem)

Rules and Regulations (AKA: A short direction to avoid dejection) is a wonderful early Carroll poem. This is sometimes used in stage adaptations of Alice as it sits right at home with Carroll's later nonsense.

Enjoy! 

A short direction

To avoid dejection,

By variations

In occupations,

And prolongation

Of relaxation,

And combinations

Of recreations,

And disputation

On the state of the nation

In adaptation

To your station,

By invitations

To friends and relations,

By evitation

Of amputation,

By permutation

In conversation,

And deep reflection

You’ll avoid dejection.


Learn well your grammar,

And never stammer,

Write well and neatly,

And sing most sweetly,

Be enterprising,

Love early rising,

Go walk of six miles,

Have ready quick smiles,

With lightsome laughter,

Soft flowing after.

Drink tea, not coffee;

Never eat toffy.

Eat bread with butter.

Once more, don’t stutter.


Don’t waste your money,

Abstain from honey.

Shut doors behind you,

(Don’t slam them, mind you.)

Drink beer, not porter.

Don’t enter the water

Till to swim you are able.

Sit close to the table.

Take care of a candle.

Shut a door by the handle,

Don’t push with your shoulder

Until you are older.

Lose not a button.

Refuse cold mutton.

Starve your canaries.

Believe in fairies.

If you are able,

Don’t have a stable

With any mangers.

Be rude to strangers.


Moral: Behave.

As it fell upon a day (Early Carroll verse)

As it fell upon a day is a piece of early verse by Carroll. Here it is in full!

There's honestly something deeply fascinating about Carroll's early verse - almost as if you can sense Carroll's talents for absurd nonsense evolving. 


As I was sitting on the hearth

(And O, but a hog is fat!)

A man came hurrying up the path,

(And what care I for that?)


When he came the house unto,

His breath both quick and short he drew.



When he came before the door,

His face grew paler than before.


When he turned the handle round,

The man fell fainting to the ground.



When he crossed the lofty hall,

Once and again I heard him fall.


When he came up to the turret stair,

He shrieked and tore his raven hair.

When he came my chamber in,

(And O, but a hog is fat!)

I ran him through with a golden pin,

(And what care I for that?)