[Humpty Dumpty in FW]

although the Humpty Dumpty story addresses only the fall (not the cyclic rise), the rhythm is so compelling Joyce uses it everywhere (even the syllable 'um' is evocative)

the original Tim Finnegan fell from a ladder, but in FW he almost always falls like HD from a wall

'humpty dumpty' was slang before the poem, referring to a drink, and to a clumsy person

the rhyme never mentions an egg but has always been considered a riddle with 'an egg' as the correct answer

[fweet-73] [wiki]

eggs [fweet-149]

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.


003.20 "the humptyhillhead of humself prumptly sends... his tumptytumtoes"
012.12 "And even if Humpty shell fall frumpty"
017.04 "he dumptied the wholeborrow"
030.02 "Humphrey Chimp-"
094.17 "one old obster lumpky pumpkin"
097.26 "hasitense humponadimply"
099.20 "up. Mumpty! Mike room for Rumpty!"
129.18 "to dump your hump"
230.05 "eggspilled him out of his homety dometry nar-"
242.22 "Hump for humbleness, dump for dirts."
295.24 "As umpty"
314.09 "strumtruminahumptadumpwaultopoofoolooderamaunsturnup"
314.16 "cwympty dwympty"
317.10 "Hombreyhambrey"
317.24 "Humpsea dumpsea"
319.16 "Save Ampster-"
319.36 "would empty dempty him"
325.23 "hompety domp"
330.36 "where was hunty,"
341.32 "romptyhompty"
345.18 "getting umptyums gatherumed off the skattert"
351.21 "one humpenny dump"
352.15 "Hump to dump! Tumbleheaver!"
352.20 "behounding his lumpy hump"
363.24 "its plumptylump piteousness"
372.19 "(chalkem up, hemptyempty!)"
373.06 "hoompsydoompsy walters"
374.34 "Hung Chung Egglyfella now speak he tell numptywumpty"
375.05 "old Hunphy-"
386.08 "the hempty times and the dempty times"
387.33 "o'er his humbodumbones sweeps"
415.14 "Hombly,"
455.24 "what a humpty daum earth"496.06 "Bumbty,"
550.36 "by the lumpty thumpty of our"
567.12 "umptydum dumptydum"
568.25 "Arise, sir Pompkey"
606.34 "He may be humpy, nay, he may be dumpy"
619.01 "his good few mugs of humbedumb" (earlier slang humpty-dumpty: ale boiled with brandy)
619.08 "the fallth of hampty"
624.13 "Humps, when you hised us and dumps, when you"
628.11 "I'd die down over his feet, humbly dumbly, only to washup."



003.18 "The great fall of the offwall" (French oeuf: egg)
059.32 "See, I crack, so, he sit in the poele, umbedimbt!"
163.27 "eggs will fall cheapened all over the walled"
175.14 "Broken Eggs will poursuive bitten Apples for where theirs is Will there's his Wall"
176.04 "Humble Bumble, Moggie's on the Wall"
184.14 "umpple does not fall very far from the dumpertree"
278.L13 "flatten a wall"
434.10 "Leg-before-Wicked lags-behind-Wall where here Mr Whicker whacked a great fall"
596.02 "sod on a fall"
106.20 "Lumptytumtumpty had a Big Fall"


047.26 "And not all the king's men nor his horses"
091.07 "afore God and all their honours and king's"
106.01 "Of all the Wide Torsos in all the Wild Glen"
219.15 "after humpteen dumpteen revivals. Before all the King's Hoarsers"
285.L03 "Arthurgink's"
334.25 "holdmenag's asses sat by Allme-"
343.22 "Of all the quirasses and all the qwehrmin"
422.05 "all the King's paunches"
567.17 "to all the king's aussies and all their king's men"
600.01 "king to the property horse, being, slumply and slopely,"
627.26 "Nor for all our wild"


Joyce uses HD imagery in the ballad and then parodies the ballad:

045.01 "Have you heard of one Humpty Dumpty"
491.16 "Have You Erred off Van Homper"
586.10 "(have you heard of one"


Norwegian Lille Trille satt på hylle.
096.04 "Lillytrilly law pon hilly"