The Hunting of the Snark – Lewis Carroll 1981 | Illus. Henry Holiday

The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Henry Holiday, is a delightfully absurd and enigmatic narrative poem that plunges readers into a surreal maritime adventure. First published in 1876, the poem follows a motley crew—including a Bellman, a Baker, a Butcher, and a Beaver—as they embark on a perilous quest to hunt the mythical Snark, a creature whose nature remains tantalizingly undefined. Carroll’s playful language, riddled with puns and invented lexicon (“Snark” is a portmanteau of “snail” and “shark”), dances between whimsy and existential dread, culminating in the infamous twist: “For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.” Henry Holiday’s original illustrations amplify the poem’s eerie charm, blending Victorian detail with dreamlike grotesquery. A masterpiece of nonsense literature, The Hunting of the Snark defies interpretation, inviting readers to revel in its delicious mysteries and linguistic fireworks.