Meaning & Analysis
The proverb literally suggests that the side of the bed a person gets out of in the morning—right for good, left or 'wrong' for bad—determines their luck and mood for the entire day.
Insights
Auspicious Beginnings
Rising on the 'right side' symbolizes starting a day or an enterprise under auspicious conditions, leading to a positive disposition and favorable outcomes. Conversely, rising on the 'wrong' or 'left' side signifies an unlucky or poor start, predisposing one to irritability and misfortune.
Inexplicable Moods
The proverb serves as a common explanation for sudden, seemingly baseless irritability or bad moods. It attributes negative feelings to an arbitrary external event rather than internal psychological or emotional causes, effectively saying one's bad temper is a matter of bad luck.
Power of Superstition
The expression underscores the human tendency to seek control over unpredictable events through superstition and ritual. It reflects a belief that seemingly minor, routine actions can hold significant power over one's destiny and well-being.
Symbolism of Right and Left
Historically, the right side ('dexter') was associated with divinity and good fortune, while the left ('sinister') signified bad omens. This ancient Roman and broader European superstition imbues the proverb with a deep-seated cultural symbolism, where a simple physical act is believed to dictate one's fate for the day.
Psychological Attribution
The proverb offers a convenient external cause for internal emotional states. Attributing irritability or misfortune to 'waking up on the wrong side of the bed' serves as a psychological coping mechanism, allowing individuals to avoid confronting the true, often more complex, reasons for their mood.
Ritual and Control
The quotations connect the act of rising with other daily rituals like praying or blessing oneself. This reflects a worldview where personal fortune was not left to chance but was actively managed through adherence to specific, often superstitious, daily practices designed to ensure a favorable outcome.
Rhetorical Devices
Antithesis
The proverb is built on the stark contrast between 'right' and 'wrong/left', creating a memorable binary that represents the duality of good and bad fortune, positive and negative moods.
Symbolism
The 'right side' and 'left/wrong side' serve as powerful symbols for good luck and bad luck, respectively. This symbolism transforms a mundane act into a portent of the day's events.
Idiom
The phrase has become a deeply ingrained idiom in the English language, used to describe a person's unexplained grumpiness, with its literal, superstitious origins now largely forgotten by modern speakers.
Transcription
Quotations
Or howe happily rose I on my ryght syde to day, or blessed me well . . . this happye or lucky day.
You rose on your right syde here ryght.
This day, the truth to tel, Thou rose not on thy ryght syde . . or els blest thee not wel.
If the Muses . . favoured his tong, as well as Phoebus and Calliope the direction of his penne, his rising shoulde be on the right side on that day.
I rose on my lift side to day.
Sure, I said my prayers, ris'd on my right side, Wash'd hands and eyes, put on my girdle last.
He arose on the right side.
I think I rose not on the right side to day.
Sure I rose the wrong way to day. I have had such damn'd ill luck.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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