THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK
765
"He remarked to me then," said that mildest of men,
'If your Snark be a Snark, that is right:
Fetch it home by all means
you may serve it with greens
And it's handy for striking a light.
You may seek it with thimbles—and seek it with care
You may hunt it with forks and hope;
You may threaten its life with a railway-share;
You may charm it with smiles and soap
("That's exactly the method," the Bellman bold
In a hasty parenthesis cried,
"That's exactly the way I have always been told
That the capture of Snarks should be tried!")
"
'But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day,
If your Snark be a Boojum! For then
You will softly and suddenly vanish away^
And never be met with again!'
"It is this, it is this that oppresses my soul.
When I think of my uncle's last words
And my heart is like nothing so much as a bowl
Brimming over with quivering curds!
"It is this, it is this
" "We have had that before!"
The Bellman indignantly said.
And the Baker replied "Let me say it once more.
It is this, it is this that I dread!
"I engage with the Snark—every night after dark
In a dreamy delirious fight:
I serve it with greens in those shadowy scenes.
And I use it for striking a light
 

766 VERSE
"But if ever I meet with a Boojum, that day,
In a moment (of this I am sure),
I shall softly and suddenly vanish away
And the notion I cannot endure!"
Fit the Fourth
The Hunting
The Bellman looked uffish, and wrinkled his brow.
"If only you'd spoken before!
It's excessively awkward to mention it now,
With the Snark, so to speak, at the door!
"We should all of us grieve, as you well may believe.
If you never were met with again
But surely, my man, when the voyage began.
You might have suggested it then?
"It's excessively awkward to mention it now
As I think I've already remarked."
And the man they called "Hi!" replied, with a sigh,
"I informed you the day we embarked.
"You may charge me with murder—or want of sense-(We are all of us weak at times)
But the slightest approach to a false pretence
Was never among my crimes!
"I said it in Hebrew—I said it in Dutch
I said it in German and Greek
But I wholly forgot (and it vexes me much)
That English is what you speak!"