The Monday’s child poem is the old nursery rhyme that gives every day of the week a little fortune: fair of face, full of grace, far to go. Here is the full rhyme, what each line means, and why a Wednesday baby has nothing to worry about.
The rhyme is sometimes called the days of the week child poem or the day of the week child poem, and parents love it because it turns a birth date into a tiny story about who their baby might become. Below you will find the traditional text, the meaning of every line from Monday’s child to Sunday’s child, the history of the rhyme, original new verses for each day written by Betteroo, and captions you can use on a birth announcement or nursery print.
Wondering about other baby keepsakes? Our birth month flowers guide pairs well with this one, and our baby quotes are perfect for a first-year scrapbook.
Table of Contents
The Full Monday’s Child Poem
This is the version most people know. It is a traditional English nursery rhyme in the public domain, first printed in 1836.
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 that is born on Sabbath day, Is bonny and blithe, good and gay.Traditional nursery rhyme, first printed 1836
A few versions end with “the child that is born on the Sabbath day is fair and wise and good and gay.” In the 1800s, gay meant cheerful and lighthearted, and bonny and blithe means healthy, pretty, and carefree.
What Each Day Means
Day
Traditional line
What it means
A modern reading
Monday
fair of face
Good looking, with a lovely face
Bright, open, easy to love
Tuesday
full of grace
Graceful in movement and in manners
Kind, gentle, and generous
Wednesday
full of woe
Prone to sorrow
Deep feeling and empathetic
Thursday
has far to go
A long journey ahead
Adventurous, destined to go places
Friday
loving and giving
Affectionate and generous
Warm, giving, and loyal
Saturday
works hard for a living
Industrious
Determined and hardworking
Sunday
bonny and blithe, good and gay
Healthy, happy, and good natured
Sunny, cheerful, and content
The Monday’s child poem, day by day.
Monday’s Child Is Fair of Face
Monday’s child poem lines are the most quoted of all. “Fair of face” meant good looking, but parents today often read it as a child with an open, shining face that draws people in.
Monday’s child came with the morning, face like the first light through the blind; fair of face, the old rhyme told us, but oh, the fairest heart we’ll find.
Tuesday’s Child Is Full of Grace
The Tuesday’s child poem line suggests elegance, but grace also means kindness given freely. Tuesday babies get one of the sweetest lines in the rhyme.
Tuesday’s child moves soft as music, gives her smile to every face; small hands open, never grasping: this is what they mean by grace.
Wednesday’s Child Is Full of Woe
This is the line that worries parents, and the reason “wednesday’s child is full of woe poem” is searched so often. Remember the rhyme is folklore, not fate. Older versions even gave the woe to Friday’s child instead. Many parents read “full of woe” as a child who feels deeply, notices sadness in others, and grows into a compassionate adult.
Wednesday’s child feels every heartbeat, yours and hers and the world’s as well; full of woe, the old rhyme warned us, full of love is the truer spell.
If You Only Read One
“Your baby’s birth day is a story, not a sentence. Every child in the rhyme is loved.”
Thursday’s Child Has Far to Go
The Thursday’s child poem line can sound tiring, but most families read it as a promise of adventure: a child who will travel far, try new things, and grow a lot.
Thursday’s child has far to go, and every road will know her name; she’ll wander far and grow so tall, and still come running home the same.
Friday’s Child Is Loving and Giving
Friday’s child gives the biggest hugs, shares the last bite, holds the door; loving and giving from the start, and every year, a little more.
Saturday’s Child Works Hard for a Living
The Saturday’s child poem line reflects a time when most children grew up to hard physical work. Today it reads as grit, focus, and a child who finishes what they start.
Saturday’s child builds towers twice when the first one tumbles down; works hard, laughs hard, never quits: the steadiest heart in town.
Sunday’s Child Is Bonny and Blithe
The Sunday’s child poem lines are the happiest of all. The traditional rhyme calls Sunday the Sabbath day and gives that child health, beauty, happiness, and goodness all at once.
Sunday’s child arrived like sunlight on a slow and quiet day; bonny, blithe, and good, they told us, and joyful in every way.
Where the Monday’s Child Rhyme Came From
The rhyme was first recorded in Anna Eliza Bray’s Traditions of Devonshire in 1836 and later collected by James Orchard Halliwell, whose version gave the final lines to “the child that’s born on Christmas Day.” The idea of telling a child’s fortune by their birth day is much older: English writer Thomas Nashe recalled hearing such stories in Suffolk in the 1570s.
Friday or Wednesday? An 1887 story in Harper’s Weekly made Friday’s child full of woe, and swapped the fates of Thursday’s and Saturday’s children.
Sabbath day or Sunday? Both appear. Sabbath is the older wording.
Just for fun. The rhyme was always meant as a playful fortune, not a prediction.
How to Find the Day of the Week Your Baby Was Born
Most parents remember, but if you are looking up a grandparent, an older child, or yourself:
Use your phone calendar. Scroll back to the birth date and the weekday is right there.
Check the birth certificate. It lists the date, and any online calendar will give you the day.
Ask a search engine. Type “what day of the week was” plus the date.
Then frame the matching line from the Monday’s child poem with your baby’s name and birth date. It makes a lovely nursery print or first-birthday keepsake.
Monday’s Child Captions and Nursery Lines
Short, original lines for a birth announcement, a baby book, or the back of a photo. Swap in your baby’s day.
“Born on a Monday, fair of face, and already the center of our world.”
“Tuesday’s child, full of grace, and full of milk most of the time.”
“Wednesday’s child: big feelings, bigger heart.”
“Thursday’s child has far to go, and we can’t wait to watch the journey.”
“Friday’s child, loving and giving, starting with all the snuggles.”
“Saturday’s child arrived right on schedule, already a hard worker.”
“Sunday’s child: bonny, blithe, and finally here.”
“Whatever the day, you were born on the best one.”
Whichever day your baby arrived, the nights are what most new parents remember. Here is what families are dealing with, from Betteroo’s annual parent survey.
83%
of parents are exhausted or drained
The 2026 US national average
79%
are getting under 6 hours of sleep a night
The 2026 US national average
55%
of babies wake 3+ times per night
The 2026 US national average
1 in 3
moms say they feel touched out most days
The 2026 US national average
How parents are coping in 2026, from Betteroo’s State of Parent and Baby Sleep report
Metric
2026 US national average
Parents exhausted or drained
83%
Parents getting under 6 hours of sleep
79%
Babies waking 3 or more times per night
55%
Moms who feel touched out most days
1 in 3
Fair of face, but up all night?
Betteroo builds a gentle, personalized sleep plan around your baby’s age and temperament, so the whole family can rest. It takes about three minutes.
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 that is born on Sabbath day is bonny and blithe, good and gay.
What does Wednesday’s child is full of woe mean?
It traditionally meant a child prone to sorrow, but it is folklore, not fate. Older versions gave the woe to Friday’s child instead. Many parents read it today as a child who feels deeply and grows up compassionate.
What does Sunday’s child mean in the poem?
Sunday’s child, born on the Sabbath day, is “bonny and blithe, good and gay,” meaning healthy, cheerful, kind, and lighthearted. It is the happiest line in the rhyme.
Who wrote the Monday’s child poem?
No one knows. It is a traditional English nursery rhyme, first recorded in print by Anna Eliza Bray in Traditions of Devonshire in 1836 and later collected by James Orchard Halliwell.
Every day is a good day for better sleep.
Betteroo builds a gentle, personalized sleep plan around your baby’s age and temperament. About three minutes to start.
