Star Light, Star Bright
| "Star Light, Star Bright" | |
|---|---|
| Nursery rhyme | |
| Published | Mid/late 19th century |
| Genre | Children's song |
| Composer(s) | unknown |
| Lyricist(s) | unknown |
"Star Light, Star Bright" is an English language nursery rhyme of American origin. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 16339...
Lyrics
[edit]The lyrics usually conform to the following:
- Star light, star bright,
- First star I see tonight;
- I wish I may, I wish I might
- Have the wish I wish tonight.[1]
Origin
[edit]According to folklorists Iona and Peter Opie, the superstition of hoping for wishes granted when seeing a shooting or falling star may date back to the ancient world.[2] It was also mentioned in The Encyclopedia of Superstitions that wishing on the first star seen may also predate this rhyme.[3] The song "Star Light, Star Bright" first began to be recorded in mid/late nineteenth-century America.[3] It can be found in works dating to at least 1866 as the song appears in "Swallows on the Wing O'er Garden Springs of Delight" by William Furniss.[4] It can also be found in an 1873 article from "To-day" magazine where the song is linked to fortunes.[5] The song and tradition seem to have reached Britain by the early twentieth century and have since spread worldwide.[2]
Notes
[edit]- ^ R. Gerlings, Hey, Diddle, Diddle and Other Best-Loved Rhymes (Windmill Books, 2009), p. 32.
- ^ a b I. Opie and M. Tatem, A Dictionary of Superstitions (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989), pp. 175-6.
- ^ a b R. Webster, The Encyclopedia of Superstitions (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2008), p. 245.
- ^ William Furniss (1866). Swallows on the Wing O'er Garden Springs of Delight: A Medly of Prose and Verse. Michael Doolady. p. 35.
- ^ M.P. Hardy (1873). To-day: The Popular Illustrated Magazine, Volume 2. Maclean, Stoddart & Company. p. 131.
