The Hunting of the Snark The Hunting of the Snark The Hunting of the Snark (An Agony in 8 Fits) is a poem written by English writer Lewis Carroll. It is typically categorised as a nonsense poem. Written from 1874 to 1876, the poem borrows the setting, some creatures, and eight portmanteau words from Carroll's earlier poem "Jabberwocky" in his children's novel "Through the Looking-Glass" (1871). As for the word "Snark", Carroll did not give it any meaning. The word "snarking" had been used in 1866 to describe a sound. Henry Holiday, the illustrator of the poem, thought of it as a "tragedy". The plot
The Hunting of the Snark the poem Carroll chose Henry Holiday, whom he had met in 1869 or 1870. At the time Carroll approached him to ask if he could create three illustrations for the poem, Carroll had three 'fits', as he called the parts of his poem—fit can mean either canto or convulsion—completed: "The Landing", "The Hunting", and "The Vanishing". He intended to title it "The Boojum" and include it in his fantasy novel "Sylvie and Bruno", which was unfinished at the time. However, in late October 1875, Carroll thought about having it published during Christmas; this proved impossible, as the wood engraving for