Occasionally attempting to translate simple English into easy Latin (with the assistance of memory, dictionaries, and software), and being quite taken with the contemporary Celtic sound of the music on Udio.com, I thought I would translate Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star into Latin, adding two additional stanzas of my own creation to the first one, and see what it sounded like when set to a Celtic vibe on Udio. “Celestial Reflections” (“Reflexiones Caelestes”) is the result.
My Latin is crude and rough, I admit. My first stanza is:
Micat, micat, parva stella,
Quam miror quid sis bella!
Sursum supra mundi alti,
Sicut gemma in caelo.
The American Classical League’s translation of the first stanza, which I looked up after I did my translation, is:
Mica, Mica, parva stella;
Miror quaenam sis tam bella.
Splendens eminus in illo,
Alba velut gemma caelo.
The differences are intriguing, as the second line in my translation, “How I wonder/marvel at what a beauty you are!”, contrasts with the League’s rendering, “I wonder what makes you so beautiful.” My third line, “Up above the world so high,” differs from the League’s “Shining afar in that place.” Similarly, my fourth line, “like a gem in the sky,” contrasts with the League’s “white like a gem in the heavens.” The primary distinction lies in the League’s effort to rhyme the Latin words, a technique I did not employ. Additionally, the League chose to specify the gem as explicitly white, enhancing its resemblance to a diamond. Such nuances underscore the divide between scholars and an amateur such as myself!
For those interested, the English translation of the two additional stanzas I added may be as follows:
Twinkle, twinkle, purest star, Your radiant form, Through the night you give brilliance, You make a path through the darkness.
Twinkle, twinkle, bright star, In the rare celestial path, You shine with eternal light, You tint the night with sweet sleep.
Northcoast Antiquarian 