“Jabberwocky” is a traditional ballad. Its 28 lines are divided into seven, four-line stanzas, or quatrains. The first three lines of each stanza are written in iambic tetrameter (meaning four stressed syllables per line), and the last line of each stanza is written in iambic trimeter (meaning three stressed syllables per line). The rhyme scheme is abab.

The ballad is an old form of poetry that in both form and function has its beginnings in medieval Scottish dance-songs and the medieval French “ballade.” Originally, it was a narrative set to song, or a story-song, sung by wandering troubadours and by bards entertaining at court. It was primarily by means of their repertoire of ballads that they made their living, as it was the dominant form of popular poetry. And its purpose (with little significant variation up to the present day) is to tell a story in such an exciting and memorable way that an audience, whether it be literate or illiterate, is able to easily follow the narrative and get caught up in the action.

The speaker, or persona, of a ballad does this by addressing the reader from a third person,

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