The Hunting of the Snark - An Agony in Eight Fits

Synopsis

The Hunting of the Snark (An Agony in 8 Fits) is a poem written by English writer Lewis Carroll. It is typically categorized 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. The word "snarky" was used to mean "crotchety or snappish" in the early part of the 20th century, but that usage was later replaced by its current meaning of "sarcastic, impertinent or irreverent"; that adjective in turn has been back-formed to the noun "snark", meaning "an attitude or expression of mocking irreverence and sarcasm".

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