Monday’s Child
Nursery Rhyme
Monday’s child is fair of face
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.
Summary of Monday’s Child
- Popularity of “Monday’s Child”: This nursery rhyme is stated to have the first record in 1938 in A. E. Bray’s Traditions of Devonshire with absolutely no record of its real author. It appeared in the same year. However, James Orchard Halliwell collected some such rhymes and included this one in them in the half of the nineteenth century. It has also appeared as a folk song with index number 19526 in Roud Folk Songs. The rhyme presents seven days and the features that the children born on those days could have. The beauty of the poetic piece lies in presenting fortune-telling, an old-age tradition still common in most modern societies.
- “Monday’s Child” As a Representative of Fortune Telling: Within eight verses, the poem presents what a child could be or what features he could have if he was to be born on that day. For example, it states that the child born on Monday will have a beautiful appearance. However, the grace will go to the child born on Tuesday and not Monday. Similarly, the child born on Wednesday would undergo suffering, but the same could not be stated about the child born on Thursday. Rather, he would be a traveler and would go far away from his birthplace.
Conversely, the child born on Friday would be very loving and generous, but the same could not be stated about the child born on Saturday. Rather, he could be a hard worker. He would always work very hard to earn a living. The final day is the Sabbath day, and the child born on this day would be lean and thin but very happy and exciting. This entire poetic piece shows how people of ancient times reserved days for children to predict their nature and fortune. - Major Themes in “Monday’s Child”: Fortune telling, interest in children, and the ability to predict are three major themes of the poem. The entire rhyme comprises fortune-telling. Each day is reserved for a different feature in a person having that day as his/her birthday. The children born on some days are fortunate, while on other days, they are quite unfortunate. This shows that the ancient people used to take a keen interest in their kids and their future. It also shows that people used to predict based on their long oral studies of such things.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Monday’s Child
Anonymous poet has used various literary devices to enhance the intended impact of this poetic piece. Some of the major literary devices used in it are as follows.
- Allusion: It means the use of references from history, literature, or culture, such as the poem showing a religious allusion to “the Sabbath Day.”
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /i/ in “Friday’s child is loving and giving” and the sound of /o/ in “But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /f/ in “fair of face.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /g/ and /g/ in “Is bonny and blithe and good and gay” and the sound of /s/ in “Thursday’s child has far to go.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Anonymous poet used imagery in this poem such as “Saturday’s child works hard for a living”, “Is bonny and blithe and good and gay” and “Wednesday’s child is full of woe.”
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as the name of days that point to the time that a person could have on this earth.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Monday’s Child
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Couplet: This poetic device shows two verses rhyming with each other such as the first two verses of this rhyme. For example,
Monday’s child is fair of face
Tuesday’s child is full of grace.
- Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows very good use of formal and poetic diction.
- End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Anonymous poet has used end rhyme in this poem, such as face/grace and woe/go.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows an ABAB rhyme scheme, and this pattern continues until the end.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. This poem comprises a single stanza having eight verses.
- Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows a religious, happy, and predictive tone.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote about good people.
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.