Wednesday's Child
The version of the poem that I was first familiar with goes like this.
Tuesday's child is full of grace.
Wednesday's child is full of woe.
Thursday's child has far to go.
Friday's child is loving and giving.
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child who is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay.
What does this all mean really? I think I am loving and giving. Although not graceful, I want to believe I am full of grace. And hey, my complexion is fair. Who says that I don't work hard? So thanks to the Internet and not wanting to be full of woe, I searched for a better answer. I found another version of the poem and what is claimed to be the original version.
While recent generations have grown up with the version in which, "Wednesday's child is full of woe," an early incarnation of this rhyme appeared in a multi-part fictional story in a chapter appearing in Harper's Weekly on September 17, 1887. In that version "Friday's child is full of woe." In addition to Wednesday's and Friday's children's role reversal, the fates of Thursday's and Saturday's children was also exchanged and Sunday's child is "happy and wise" instead of "blithe and good":
Tuesday's child is full of grace.
Wednesday's child is loving and giving.
Thursday's child works hard for a living,
Friday's child is full of woe.
Saturday's child has far to go.
But the child that is born on Sabbath-day
Is bonny and happy and wise and gay.
In my opinion, I think we possess all of the above characteristic?
Comments
I was born on a Sunday. Makes sense, I guess.
What fun! I had not thought of that little poem for ages!
P.S. I have seen your picture, and I think you are a Monday's child. :-)