By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘The Walrus and the Carpenter’ is a poem recited by the fat twins, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, to Alice in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass (1871). The precise meaning of the poem remains elusive, but it remains a popular poem and a classic example of Victorian nonsense verse. It may be foolhardy to attempt an analysis or critical commentary where nonsense literature is concerned, but it’s worth delving a little deeper into this unusual poem.