What is Wednesday’s child full of according to the nursery rhyme?

Woe.

The nursery rhyme “Monday’s Child” assigns traits or fates to children based on the day of the week on which they were born. According to this traditional poem, “Wednesday’s child is full of woe.” This line suggests that a child born on a Wednesday is characterized by sadness or melancholy. The rhyme is a folk belief that dates back to at least the 19th century and is often used to help teach the days of the week to young children.

The full rhyme goes as follows:

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 born on the Sabbath Day,

Is fair and wise and good in every way.

This rhyme is part of a broader cultural tradition of associating specific superstitions or qualities with certain days of the week, which was common in many European cultures. The version most commonly recited today is believed to have originated from a collection of traditional nursery rhymes edited by James Orchard Halliwell in the mid-1800s.

The attribution of “woe” to Wednesday’s child might reflect older beliefs or sayings about the mood or atmosphere of particular days. Wednesday, named after Woden (or Odin), a figure in Norse mythology who is associated with wisdom and war but also with a certain melancholic or introspective character, might influence the tone set for children born on this day.

Despite the seemingly negative connotation of being “full of woe,” such rhymes are typically used more for entertainment and as a mnemonic device rather than as a serious belief. In modern contexts, the rhyme is less about predicting the destiny of a child based on their birth day and more about folklore and historical language usage. The attributes described in the rhyme serve as a playful way to remember the days of the week and to engage children with language through rhyme and meter.

Therefore, the saying that “Wednesday’s child is full of woe” provides insight into historical cultural views and language but is generally not considered a literal prediction of a person’s future character or life based on the day of the week they were born.