"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is a popular English

lullaby A lullaby (), or cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies they are used to pass down cultural knowledg ...

. The lyrics are from an early-19th-century English poem written by Jane Taylor, "The Star". 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 Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

. It is sung to the tune of the French melody " Ah! vous dirai-je, maman", which was published in 1761 and later arranged by several composers, including

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

with Twelve Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman". The English lyrics have five

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...

s, although only the first is widely known. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 7666. The song is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

, and has many adaptations around the world, including the "

Alphabet song The alphabet song is any of various songs used to teach children an alphabet. Alphabet songs typically recite the names of all letters of the alphabet of a given language in order. The ABC (Verse 1) "The ABC Song", otherwise referred to as ...

" and "

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" is an English nursery rhyme, the earliest printed version of which dates from around 1744. The words have not changed very much in two and a half centuries. It is sung to a variant of the 1761 French melody '' Ah! vous di ...

Lyrics

The English lyrics were written as a poem by Jane Taylor (1783–1824)M. Cryer, ''Love Me Tender: The Stories Behind the World's Best-loved Songs'' (Frances Lincoln, 2009), pp. 83–5. and published with the title "The Star" in ''Rhymes for the Nursery'' by Jane and her sister

Ann Taylor Ann or Anne Taylor may refer to: *Ann Taylor (writer, born 1757) (1757–1830), English writer *Ann Taylor (poet) (1782–1866), English poet and children's writer, daughter of the above *Ann Taylor (actress) (born 1936), British actress, hostess a ...

(1782–1866) in London in 1806: 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'
/ref> The lyrics from "The Star" were first published with the tune in ''The Singing Master: First Class Tune Book'' in 1838. When sung, the first two lines of the entire poem are repeated as a

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

after each

Melody

"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is sung to the tune of the French melody " Ah! vous dirai-je, maman". \relative c' \addlyrics

Other versions

Song-stories-for-the-kindergarten 1896 twinkle-twinkle-little-star sheet-music

Additional variations exist such as 1. From the 1840 novel

Poor Jack ''Poor Jack'' is a novel by the English author Frederick Marryat, published in 1840. It tells the story of Thomas Saunders, a sailor's son and neglected street urchin struggling to survive in Greenwich, London in the early 19th century. ("Poor ...

(chapter 4), by

Frederick Marryat Captain Frederick Marryat (10 July 1792 – 9 August 1848) was a Royal Navy officer, a novelist, and an acquaintance of Charles Dickens. He is noted today as an early pioneer of nautical fiction, particularly for his semi-autobiographical novel ...

. 2. From 1896 in ''Song Stories for the Kindergarten'' by Mildred J. Hill. A

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" titled "

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat" is a poem recited by the Mad Hatter in chapter seven of Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. It is a parody of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Text Context The Hatter is interrupted in ...

" is recited by the

Mad Hatter The Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and its 1871 sequel ''Through the Looking-Glass''. He is very often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Ca ...

in chapter seven of

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

's ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a ...

''. An adaptation of the song, named "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Earth", was written by

Charles Randolph Grean Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

, Fred Hertz and

Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the '' Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, th ...

. It is included on Nimoy's first album ''

Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space ''Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space'' is the debut album of Leonard Nimoy, recorded in character as Mr. Spock from the NBC TV series ''Star Trek''. It was released in April 1967 by Dot Records and reached number 83 on t ...

'' (1967). A version using synonyms from ''

Roget's Thesaurus ''Roget's Thesaurus'' is a widely used English-language thesaurus, created in 1805 by Peter Mark Roget (1779–1869), British physician, natural theologian and lexicographer. History It was released to the public on 29 April 1852. Roget was i ...

'' exists. The opening lyrics are also used to begin the traditional murder ballad "

Duncan and Brady "Duncan and Brady", also known as "Been on the Job Too Long", "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", or simply "Brady", is a traditional murder ballad about the shooting of a policeman, Brady, by a bartender, Duncan. The song's lyrics stemmed from act ...

". Alvin and the Chipmunks performed a swinging version cut off by David Seville. The song can also be played as a

singing game A singing game is an activity based on a particular verse or rhyme, usually associated with a set of actions and movements. As a collection, they have been studied by folklorists, ethnologists, and psychologists and are seen as important part of ...

References

External links

* * *
Audio segment
from

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by ...

'', {{Authority control Articles containing video clips English children's songs English folk songs Traditional children's songs Lullabies English nursery rhymes 1806 poems 1838 songs Songs based on poems Fiction about stars

Lyrics

Melody

Other versions

See also

References

External links