Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Illustrated by Arthur Rackham. With a Proem by Austin Dobson

Excerpt

'Tis two score years since Carroll's art,
With topsy-turvy magic,
SentAlicewondering through a part
Half-comic and half-tragic.

Enchanting Alice! Black-and-white
Has made your deeds perennial;
And naught save "Chaos and old Night"
Can part you now fromTenniel;

But still you are a Type, and based
In Truth, likeLearandHamlet;
And Types may be re-draped to taste
In cloth-of-gold or camlet.

Here comes afresh Costumier, then;
That Taste may gain a wrinkle
From him who drew with such deft pen
The rags ofRip Van Winkle!

AUSTIN DOBSON.

All in the golden afternoon
Full leisurely we glide;
For both our oars, with little skill,
By little arms are plied,
While little hands make vain pretence
Our wanderings to guide.

Ah, cruel Three! In such an hour,
Beneath such dreamy weather,
To beg a tale of breath too weak
To stir the tiniest feather!
Yet what can one poor voice avail
Against three tongues together?

Imperious Prima flashes forth
Her edict "to begin it"—
In gentler tone Secunda hopes
"There will be nonsense in it!"—
While Tertia interrupts the tale
Notmorethan once a minute.

Anon, to sudden silence won,
In fancy they pursue
The dream-child moving through a land
Of wonders wild and new,
In friendly chat with bird or beast—
And half believe it true.

And ever, as the story drained
The wells of fancy dry.
And faintly strove that weary one
To put the subject by,
"The rest next time—" "Itisnext time!"
The happy voices cry.

Thus grew the tale of Wonderland:
Thus slowly, one by one,
Its quaint events were hammered out—
And now the tale is done,
And home we steer, a merry crew,
Beneath the setting sun.

Alice! a childish story take,
And with a gentle hand
Lay it where Childhood's dreams are twined
In Memory's mystic band,
Like pilgrim's wither'd wreath of flowers
Pluck'd in a far-off land.

CONTENTS

I. Down the Rabbit-holeII. The Pool of TearsIII. A Caucus-race and a Long TaleIV. The Rabbit sends in a Little BillV. Advice from a CaterpillarVI. Pig and PepperVII. A Mad Tea-partyVIII. The Queen's Croquet-groundIX. The Mock Turtle's StoryX. The Lobster QuadrilleXI. Who Stole the Tarts?XII. Alice's Evidence

To face pageAliceThe Pool of TearsThey all crowded round it panting and asking, "But who has won?""Why, Mary Ann, what are you doing out here?"Advice from a CaterpillarAn unusually large saucepan flew close by it, and very nearly carried it offIt grunted again so violently that she looked down into its face in some alarmA Mad Tea-PartyThe Queen turned angrily away from him and said to the Knave, "Turn them over"The Queen never left off quarrelling with the other players, and shouting "Off with his head!" or, "Off with her head!"The Mock Turtle drew a long breath and said, "That's very curious"Who stole the Tarts?At this the whole pack rose up into the air, and came flying down upon her

CHAPTER IDown the Rabbit-HoleLICE was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations?"

So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid) whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her....