Samuel Hoffenstein’s speaker turns the calendar into a running joke: Sunday is the worst day, Monday is also bad, and by Tuesday he doesn’t care whose day it is—he dislikes it too. The complaint rolls through Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and even Saturday, which he resents simply for existing. The tone is exaggerated and playful, like someone grumbling for the pleasure of it, not out of real despair. The mock-solemn title makes the everyday crankiness funnier: a “song of faith” turns out to be a faith in disliking every day equally. By the end, the list circles back to Sunday and trails off with “etc.,” as if the weekly annoyance will never stop. The mood is light and wry, inviting a knowing laugh at how a bad mood can spread until the whole week feels unwelcome.
Songs of Faith in the Year After Next I — Summary
The day I like the least is Sunday, And after that, I don't like Monday,
And after that, I don't care whose day Tuesday is — I don't like Tuesday,
And after that, let other men say, "Pooh," and "Bah" — I don't like Wednesday,
And after that, my very worse day Is — in short, I don't like Thursday,
And after that, my evil-eye day Is — the fact's, — I don't like Friday,
And after that, I won't grow fatter, say. Because they have a day called Saturday —
But the day I like the least is Sunday, And after that, I don't like Monday, And after that, I don't care whose day Tuesday is, I don't like Tuesday, And after that, etc. . . .