Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is an English lullaby. The lyrics are from an early-19th-century English poem written by Jane Taylor, "The Star".[1] The poem, which is in couplet form, was first published in 1806 in Rhymes for the Nursery, a collection of poems by Taylor and her sister Ann. It is now sung to the tune of the French melody "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman", which was first published in 1761 and later arranged by several composers, including Mozart with Twelve Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman".[2] The English lyrics have five stanzas, although only the first is widely known. The song is in the public domain.[3]

"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"
Nursery rhyme
Published1806
Lyricist(s)Jane Taylor

Where Jane Taylor was when she wrote the lyric is contested, with the localities of Colchester and Chipping Ongar each asserting a claim. However, Ann Taylor writes (in The Autobiography and Other Memorials of Mrs. Gilbert) that the first time Jane ever saw the village of Ongar was in 1810, and the poem had been published in 1806. "In the summer of 1810, Jane, when visiting London, had enjoyed a pic-nic excursion in Epping Forest, and observed on a sign post at one of the turnings, 'To Ongar.' It was the first time she had seen the name."[4]

Lyrics

The English lyrics were written as a poem by Jane Taylor (1783–1824)[5] and published with the title "The Star" in Rhymes for the Nursery by Jane and her sister Ann Taylor (1782–1866) in London in 1806:[6]

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the trav'ller in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go
If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often thro' my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky.

'Tis your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the trav'ller in the dark,
Tho' I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

The lyrics were first published with the tune "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman" in The Singing Master: First Class Tune Book in 1838.[5] When sung, the first two lines of the entire poem are repeated as a refrain after each stanza.

Melody

"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is sung to the French melody "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman".

\relative c' { \key c \major \time 4/4 c4 c4 g'4 g4 a4 a4 g2 | f4 f4 e4 e4 d4 d4 c2 \break g'4 g4 f4 f4 e4 e4 d2 | g4 g4 f4 f4 e4 e4 d2 \break c4 c4 g'4 g4 a4 a4 g2 | f4 f4 e4 e4 d4 d4 c2 \bar "|." } \addlyrics { Twin -- kle, twin -- kle, lit -- tle star, how I won -- der, what you are! Up a -- bove the world so high, like a dia -- mond in the sky. Twin -- kle, twin -- kle, lit -- tle star, how I won -- der what you are! }

Other versions
Sheet music from Song Stories for the Kindergarten, setting the words to a different tune[7]

Additional variations exist such as

1. From the 1840 novel Poor Jack (chapter 4), by Frederick Marryat.

Pretty little twinkling star,
How I wonder what you are;
All above the earth so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

2. From 1896 in Song Stories for the Kindergarten[7] by Mildred J. Hill.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How we wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

When the glorious sun has set,
And the grass with dew is wet,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

When the golden sun doth rise,
Fills with shining light the skies,
Then you fade away from sight,
Shine no more 'till comes the night.

A parody of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" titled "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat" is recited by the Mad Hatter in chapter seven of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.[8]

A version using synonyms from Roget's Thesaurus exists.[9]

The opening lyrics are also used to begin the traditional murder ballad "Duncan and Brady".

Alvin and the Chipmunks performed a swinging version cut off by Dave Seville.

The song can also be played as a singing game.[10]

See also

References
  1. "First publication of 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star'". bl.uk. British Library. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  2. "LISTSERV 15.5 – OPERA-L Archives". listserv.bccls.org. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  3. "Children's Public Domain Song List". pdinfo.com.
  4. "The Autobiography and Other Memorials of Mrs. Gilbert".
  5. M. Cryer, Love Me Tender: The Stories Behind the World's Best-loved Songs (Frances Lincoln, 2009), pp. 83–5.
  6. I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 397–8. First publication of 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star'
  7. Mildred J. Hill (26 July 1896). "Song Stories for the Kindergarten" – via Internet Archive.
  8. Gardner, Martin (1998). The Annotated Alice. Random House. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-517-18920-7.
  9. Geoffrey Hughes, A History of English Words (Wiley-Blackwell, 2000), p. 40. ISBN 9780631188551
  10. "Free Lead Sheet – Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Michael Kravchuk. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
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