Similar themes in Both Alfred Lord Tennyson’s The Kraken and Lewis Carrolls Jabberwocky

Both Alfred Lord Tennyson’s The Kraken and Lewis Carrolls Jabberwocky are poems concerning fictional monsters. Both poems share obvious similarities in both theme and irregular use of language. However the format and how each poet presents their monster contrasts significantly.

The most obvious similarity between both poems is their theme. Jabberwocky by Carroll is an example of Nonsense poetry and first appears in ‘Through the Looking Glass’ by the same author. It concerns a young man’s attempt to slay a monster called the Jabberwocky. Tennyson’s The Kraken on the other hand is based on a Norse myth of a legendary giant sea monster that sleeps beneath the ocean. They each concern fictional monsters.

However, the manner in which poets present their monsters differs significantly,

Despite being told to ‘beware’ the Jabberwocky in Carroll’s poem it is not shown as nay more dangerous then Carroll’s other two monsters in the poem and the protagonist despatches him in a single stanza. At the end of the poem, the first stanza is repeated, suggesting that life goes back to normal despit...