Nursery Night Lights

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is one of the popular English nursery rhymes. It combines the tune of the 1761 French melody "Ah ! vous dirai-je, Maman" with an English poem, "The Star", by Jane Taylor. more...

Home
Baby Gear
Baby Items
Baby Safety & Health
Baby Wholesale Lots
Bathing & Grooming
Bear Making Supplies
Bears
Car Safety Seats
Diapering
Dollhouse Miniatures
Dolls
Dolls & Bears
Dolls & Bears Wholesale Lots
Feeding
Keepsakes & Baby...
Nursery Bedding
Nursery Décor
Boxes & Storage
Lamps & Shades
Nursery Mats & Rugs
Nursery Mobiles
Nursery Night Lights
Other Nursery Décor
Picture Frames
Wall Décor
Window Treatments
Nursery Furniture
Other Baby Items
Paper Dolls
Potty Training
Strollers
Toys

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.

The lyrics

The English lyrics have five verses, although only the first is widely known. The repetition of the first two lines at the end of each verse is not in the original, but is needed to fit the usual melody. Below is the whole text, with the repetition of the first two lines added.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

When the blazing sun is gone,

When he nothing shines upon,

Then you show your little light,

Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Then the traveller in the dark,

Thanks you for your tiny spark,

He could not see which way to go,

If you did not twinkle so.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

In the dark blue sky you keep,

And often through my curtains peep,

For you never shut your eye,

Till the sun is in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

As your bright and tiny spark,

Lights the traveller in the dark,—

Though I know not what you are,

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Misconceptions

It is often thought that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the original writer of this melody. Reinforced by its appearance as a "correct answer" in the original edition of Trivial Pursuit and "Snapple Facts" (among others), many believe that the song was written by Mozart when he was four or five years old (as "Andante in C for Keyboard"). Mozart was this age at the time the original French melody was written. Much later in his life, it is certain that he did write twelve variations on it; these variations are listed as Variations on "Ah vous dirais-je, Maman" (later K. 300e - see below) in the Köchel-Verzeichnis.

Another well-known misconception appears to be that all sets of words to this tune could be qualified as nursery rhymes. On the contrary, the original French version of the text was not intended for children's ears; see below.

Read more at Wikipedia.org