Complete Alice in Wonderland - L. Carroll [161]
Christmas, 2010: The Complete Alice in Wonderland is published.
(NOTE: The following two brief pieces may be of further interest to the devoted Alice reader.)
A Diary Entry by Charles Dodgson
NOVEMBER 1888
Skene brought, as his guest, Mr. Hargreaves, the husband of “Alice,” who was a stranger to me, though we had met, years ago, as pupil and lecturer. It was not easy to link in one’s mind’s eye the new face with the once-so-intimately-known and loved “Alice,” whom I shall always remember best as an entirely fascinating little seven-year-old maiden.
The Last Letter to Alice
CHRIST CHURCH, Oxford
December 8, 1891
My Dear Mrs. Hargreaves,
I should be so glad if you could, quite conveniently to yourself, look in for tea any day. You would probably prefer to bring a companion: but I must leave the choice to you, only remarking that if your husband is here he would be (most) very welcome. (I crossed out “most” because it’s ambiguous; most words are, I fear.) I met him in our Common Room not long ago. It was hard to realise that he was the husband of one I can scarcely picture to myself, even now, as more than 7 years old!
Always sincerely yours,
C. L. Dodgson
(P.S.) Your adventures have had a marvellous success. I have now sold well over 100,000 copies.
(Sadly, Alice was not able to meet with Lewis Carroll for tea this one last time. But she did visit the elderly gentleman, along with her sister Rhoda. What they spoke of will never be known. It was the last time they ever met.)
Carroll’s Parodies: The Original Poetry
THROUGHOUT THE “Alice” stories, Carroll pokes fun at various poems, songs and nursery rhymes that were popular in the 1800s. Unfortunately, 150 years after the fact, some of these jokes are so obscure that they no longer have any meaning. It is for this reason (and for the interest of the studious reader) that the original, parodies works are included here in their entirety.
The works (and excerpts of works) which appear here are as follows:
“Against Idleness and Mischief,” by Isaac Watts: Parodied as “How Doth the Little Crocodile.”
“Alice Gray,” by William Mee: Parodied as “Alice’s Evidence,” or, “She’s All My Fancy Painted Him.”
“Bonnie Dundee,” by Sir Walter Scott: Parodied as “To the Looking-Glass World.”
“The Dream of Eugene Aram,” by Thomas Hood: Parodied as “The Walrus and the Carpenter.”
“Humpty Dumpty,” attributed to Mother Goose: Alluded to in Through the Looking-Glass.
“Hush-a-by Baby,” or, “Rock-a-by Baby,” attributed to Mother Goose: Parodied as “Hush-a-by Lady.”
“The Lion and the Unicorn,” attributed to Mother Goose: Alluded to in Through the Looking-Glass.
“My Heart and Lute,” by Thomas Moore: Parodied as “Upon the Lonely Moor,” or, “The Aged, Aged Man.”
“The Old Man’s Comforts and How He Gained Them,” by Robert Southey: Parodies as “You Are Old, Father William.”
“Resolution and Independence,” by Wordsworth: Parodied as “Upon the Lonely Moor,” or, “The Aged, Aged Man.”
“Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” Anonymous: Alluded to in the closing poem of Through the Looking-Glass.
“Sally Come Up,” Anonymous: Parodied as “Salmon Come Up.”
“The Sluggard,” by Isaac Watts: Parodied as “’Tis the Voice of the Lobster.”
“Speak Gently,” by G. W. Langford: Parodied as “Speak Roughly to Your Little Boy.”
“The Spider and the Fly,” by Mary Howitt: Parodied as “The Lobster Quadrille,” or, “Will You Walk a Little Faster.”
“The Star,” by Jane Taylor: Parodied as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat.”
“Star of the Evening,” by James M. Sayle: Parodied as “Turtle Soup,” or, “Beautiful Soup.”
“Summer Days,” by Marks Wilks Call: Parodied as “In Winter, When the Fields Are White,” or “Humpty Dumpty’s Poem.”
“The Tarts,” attributed to Mother Goose: Parodied as “The Tarts,” or, “The Queen of Hearts.”
“Tweedledum and Tweedledee,” attributed to Mother Goose: Alluded to in Through the Looking-Glass.
Against Idleness and Mischief
by Isaac Watts
How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,