Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is an English lullaby. The lyrics are from an early-19th-century English poem written by Jane Taylor, "The Star".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The English lyrics have five stanzas, although only the first is widely known.
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."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Lyrics
The English lyrics were written as a poem by Jane Taylor (1783–1824)<ref name=Cryer2009>M. Cryer, Love Me Tender: The Stories Behind the World's Best-loved Songs (Frances Lincoln, 2009), pp. 83–5.</ref> 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:<ref name=Opie1997>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' Template:Webarchive</ref>
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
<poem>
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. </poem>{{#if:|
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The lyrics were first published with the tune "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman" in The Singing Master: First Class Tune Book in 1838.<ref name="Cryer2009"/> 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". The melody is used in other nursery rhymes, including the ABC Song and "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep".
<score sound="1">
\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!
}
</score>
Other versions
Additional variations of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star include:
From the 1840 novel Poor Jack (chapter 4), by Frederick Marryat:
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<poem>
Pretty little twinkling star, How I wonder what you are; All above the earth so high, Like a diamond in the sky. </poem>{{#if:|
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From 1896 in Song Stories for the Kindergarten<ref name="archive.org"/> by Mildred J. Hill:
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
<poem>
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. </poem>{{#if:|
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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.<ref name=gardner98>Template:Cite book</ref>
There is also a version using synonyms from Roget's Thesaurus.<ref>Geoffrey Hughes, A History of English Words (Wiley-Blackwell, 2000), p. 40. Template:ISBN</ref>
The opening lyrics are also used to begin the traditional murder ballad "Duncan and Brady."
The song can also be played as a singing game.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>