Where in the nursery rhyme does it say humpty dumpty is an egg?

Answer 1

The nursery rhyme actually makes no such reference there seems to be a great deal of conflict as to why the egg became a symbol associated with the rhyme as well as the origin of the rhyme itself.

There is one popular theory that states that the nursery rhyme was actually a riddle with the last line being "What was humpty dumpty?" and the answer being an egg. I personally don't quite understand why an egg would be the logical answer to this, but that's JMHO.

Another popular idea about the 'real' humpty dumpty is that it is a reference to any person who is fat or obese, which has spawned these additional theories about the origin of the rhyme:

1. Humpty Dumpty was an unusually large and squat canon mounted on the wall of a church in Colchester that was used as a Parlimentary stronghold but was temporary control of the royalists during the English Civil War. The canon fell during an assault from the Parlimentary supporters and the royalists (hence the reference to "All the King's Men") using their horses (hence the reference to "All the King's Horses") were unable to raise the canon back on to the wall. Thus he could not be 'put together again'.

2. The Humpty Dumpty rhyme actually refers to the hunchback monarch of England, Richard III. Richard fell from his horse (purported to be named wall) during the battle of boswoth field and was promptly cut to pieces by the enemy. Due to the nature of what was done to the body his men on their mounts (King's horses and King's men) were unable to save the monarch, thus failing to 'put him together again'


Humpty is also portrayed as an egg in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, but it appears that an illustrated reference from an early Mother Goose book may be the originating point of the idea that Humpty was an egg.

Answer 2

No where in the nursery rhyme! According to Martin Gardner, in The Annotated Mother Goose, the Humpty Dumpty rhyme is a riddle. Riddling rhymes were a popular source of entertainment for many centuries. The answer to the Humpty Dumpty riddle is, of course, "an egg."
The first appearance in print, in 1810, is slightly different from the version we know today:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
Threescore men and threescore more
Cannot place Humpty Dumpty as he was before.
Another variation that dates back at least to the early 1800s has the last two lines:All the king's horses and all the king's men Could not set Humpty Dumpty up again.

Answer 3

There isn't a part that says humpty dumpty is an egg.
here is the rhyme:
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the kings horses, and all the kings men;
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Answer 4

an egg is the only thing that is itself not alive (unfertilized) and can be broken, but is impossible to 'repair'

other things, such as vases, can be repaired if they break, and in current times possibly look as though they never broke, but even during older times (early 1800s) there were materials to "mend" just about everything.

nothing will ever be able to replace the yolk and white into a shell and make the shell one whole piece again

and that's why the answer to the riddle "what was humpty dumpty" was "an egg"

Answer 5

It doesn't.
but the nursery rhyme was part of a childrens riddle, to which the answer was 'Humpty Dumpty was an egg'

Answer 6

It doesn't, the nursery rhyme is completely eggless.

But you think thats weird, if someone did break an egg, would you send all your horses and men to fix it? Especially the horses, thats dangerous, with their hooves and such, its just asking to break the egg more.

Also lets say Humpty was a sentient egg, at which point did he think sitting on top of a wall was a good idea?

=:-)

Answer 7

It never says that it is an egg. The nursery rhyme is also a Riddle.

Answer 8

It doesn't. It's an old-style riddle. You're supposed to figure out it's an egg from the clues given.

Another:

Alive without breath,
As cold as death,
Lives in water, never drinking,
Clad in mail, never clinking.

(A fish)

Answer 9

Check out the following link:

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mhumpty.html

Answer 10

even though it doesnt, you can tell it's an egg because eggs are commonly broken and no one can put a broken egg back together again.