Skip to main content

Snark Hunt Appreciation

My blog snrk.de is about Henry Holiday's illustrations to Lewis Carroll's tragicomedy "The Hunting of the Snark" (1876).
by Gœtz Kluge
Plan 1 out of 1: What I tell you three times is true!
3 € per month

Show appreciation.

“Just the place for a Snark!” the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.

“Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice:
That alone should encourage the crew.
Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice:
What I tell you three times is true.”

https://snrk.de/truth-isnt-truth

Plan 1 out of 1: What I tell you three times is true!
3 € per month

Show appreciation.

“Just the place for a Snark!” the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.

“Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice:
That alone should encourage the crew.
Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice:
What I tell you three times is true.”

https://snrk.de/truth-isnt-truth

The focus of the blog (Opens in a new window) is on Henry Holiday's referential art in "The Hunting of the Snark".

Here is an example (Opens in a new window):

The image comparison above belongs to the fun part of my Snark hunt. But the Snark tragicomedy also has a cruel side: In Henry Holiday's illustration to the last chapter of "The Hunting of the Snark" you find a pictorial reference to Thomas Cranmer's burning (Opens in a new window).

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

What is the meaning of "The Hunting of the Snark"?

 

My dear May,

            In answer to your question, “What did you mean the Snark was?” will you tell your friend that I meant that the Snark was a Boojum (Opens in a new window). I trust that she and you will now feel quite satisfied and happy.

            To the best of my recollection, I had no other meaning in my mind, when I wrote it: but people have since tried to find the meanings in it. The one I like best (which I think is partly my own) is that it may be taken as an Allegory for the Pursuit of Happiness (Opens in a new window). The characteristic “ambition (Opens in a new window)” works well into this theory—and also its fondness for bathing-machines (Opens in a new window), as indicating that the pursuer of happiness, when he has exhausted all other devices, betakes himself, as a last and desperate resource, to some such wretched watering-place as Eastbourne, and hopes to find, in the tedious and depressing society of the daughters of mistresses of boarding-schools, the happiness he has failed to find elsewhere.

            With every good wish for your happiness, and for the priceless boon of health also, I am

     Always affectionately yours,    C.L. Dodgson

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

You can show appreciation of my snrk.de blog (Opens in a new window) in at least four ways. (1) Follow @Snark150 (Opens in a new window) on Twitter.

(2) Follow Snarkology (Opens in a new window) hosted on a Mastodon server. (3) Follow Snark150 (Opens in a new window) on Facebook. (4) Join the Snark hunting party for 3 € per month (see above).