View source for Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

{{Short description|Children's song published in 1806}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox song
| name           = Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
| caption        = Sheet music
| type           = nursery
| published      = 1806
| lyricist       = [[Jane Taylor (poet)|Jane Taylor]]
}}
"'''Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'''" is an English [[lullaby]]. The lyrics are from an early-19th-century English poem written by [[Jane Taylor (poet)|Jane Taylor]], "The Star".<ref>{{cite web |title=First publication of 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star' |url=https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/first-publication-of-twinkle-twinkle-little-star# |website=bl.uk |publisher=British Library |access-date=26 July 2021}}</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 Taylor (poet)|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 [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] with [[Twelve Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman"]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://listserv.bccls.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0112B&L=OPERA-L&D=1&P=78015&F=P|title=LISTSERV 15.5 – OPERA-L Archives|website=listserv.bccls.org|access-date=4 October 2014|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172607/http://listserv.bccls.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0112B&L=OPERA-L&D=1&P=78015&F=P|url-status=dead}}</ref> The English lyrics have five [[stanza]]s, 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>{{cite web|url=http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/taylor/autobiography/autobiography-I.html|title=The Autobiography and Other Memorials of Mrs. Gilbert}}</ref>

== Lyrics ==
The English lyrics were written as a poem by [[Jane Taylor (poet)|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 (poet)|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. [https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/first-publication-of-twinkle-twinkle-little-star First publication of 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230812184229/https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/first-publication-of-twinkle-twinkle-little-star|date=12 August 2023}}</ref>

{{blockquote|<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>}}

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 ==
[[File:Song-stories-for-the-kindergarten 1896 twinkle-twinkle-little-star sheet-music.gif|thumb|Sheet music from ''Song Stories for the Kindergarten'', setting the words to a different tune<ref name="archive.org">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/SongStoriesForTheKindergarten|title=Song Stories for the Kindergarten|last=Mildred J. Hill|date=26 July 1896|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>]]
{{listen |filename=Song-stories-for-the-kindergarten 1896 twinkle-twinkle-little-star sheet-music.mid |title=Tune used for the song in ''Song Stories for the Kindergarten''}}

Additional variations of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star include:

From the 1840 novel [[Poor Jack]] (chapter 4), by [[Frederick Marryat]]:

{{blockquote|<poem>
Pretty little twinkling star,
How I wonder what you are;
All above the earth so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
</poem>}}

From 1896 in ''Song Stories for the Kindergarten''<ref name="archive.org"/> by [[Mildred J. Hill]]:

{{blockquote|<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>}}

A [[parody]] of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" titled "[[Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat]]" is recited by the [[Mad Hatter]] in [[s:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/Chapter 7|chapter seven]] of [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]''.<ref name=gardner98>{{cite book|last=Gardner|first=Martin|author-link=Martin Gardner|title=[[The Annotated Alice]]|publisher=[[Random House]]|year=1998|isbn=978-0-517-18920-7|page=98}}</ref>

[[File:Twinkle twinkle little star.webm|thumb|Woman performs "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" singing game.]]
There is also a version using synonyms from ''[[Roget's Thesaurus]]''.<ref>Geoffrey Hughes, ''A History of English Words'' (Wiley-Blackwell, 2000), p. 40. {{ISBN|9780631188551}}</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>{{cite web |title=Free Lead Sheet – Twinkle Twinkle Little Star |url=https://michaelkravchuk.com/free-lead-sheet-twinkle-twinkle-star/ |website=Michael Kravchuk |access-date=5 May 2022}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of nursery rhymes]]
* [[Frère Jacques]]
* [[Little Star (The Elegants song)|Little Star]]
* [[Twinkling]]
{{clear|right}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{wikisource-inline}}
*{{wikiversity-inline|Nursery rhymes and songs/Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star}}
*{{commons category-inline}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/04/2006_35_wed.shtml Audio segment] from [[BBC Radio 4]] ''[[Woman's Hour]]''

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:English children's songs]]
[[Category:English folk songs]]
[[Category:Traditional children's songs]]
[[Category:Lullabies]]
[[Category:English nursery rhymes]]
[[Category:1806 poems]]
[[Category:1838 songs]]
[[Category:Songs about nights ]]
[[Category:Songs based on poems]]
[[Category:Songs with unknown songwriters]]
[[Category:Fiction about stars]]