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| "Here lies ye bodye of Solomon Grundy. Died on Saturday..." An illustration from Clara E. Atwood's 1901 A Book of Nursery Rhymes |
Like many of my generation I encountered the Solomon Grundy rhyme from the Batman games and cartoons. DC Comics have a character inspired by the rhyme*, he's sort of an intelligent zombie like creature equivalent to a Voodoo (in popular culture, not the real religious practices) Zombie. I was surprised to learn just how old the rhyme is, having first appeared in print in 1842 in a collection by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillips.
Solomon Grundy,
Born on a Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Took ill on Thursday,
Worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday.
This is the end
Of Solomon Grundy
As a child I was more family with another day of the week rhyme, Monday's Child. I don't know much about the character or how the rhyme plays into him beyond being dead, but I still think it's a good example of what can come out of a spark of inspiration.
* The Wikipedia page for the character was the top hit when I searched Solomon Grundy without specifying I was looking for a poem.
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