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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 9, Issue 12 (March 1, 1935)

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty.

To-day, little one, we attempt to review
A work which may be of some interest to you.
Its nature is narrative, simple of course,
With rather a strong allegorical force.
It preaches a moral but does it with skill
And takes the precaution of gilding the pill,
For the writer expresses his argumentation
By means of a vivid personification.
We see brought to life with a stroke of the pen
The ordinary egg of an ordinary hen.
This vitalised figure is placed on the field
And little by little the plot is revealed.
The action proceeds to a climax at length
In language of elegance rather than strength,
But stark is the tragedy, tragic the gloom
In which it is ruthlessly rushed to its doom.
The parable ends on a quieter note,
Proceeding with logical calm to denote
The fruitless exertions of all the king's men
To fasten the victim together again.
So that is the story of Humpty the egg,
And you will remember the moral, I beg.
You see it of course? It is this, little folk,
A lot of bad eggs are all right till they're broke.

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