| The Queen of Hearts | |
|---|---|
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Real Name |
Queen of Hearts |
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First Appearance |
Unknown |
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Created by |
Unknown |
Origin[]
"The Queen of Hearts" is a poem based on the characters found on playing cards, by an anonymous author, originally published in the British publication The European Magazine, vol. 1, no. 4, in April, 1782. Lewis Carroll later developed characters from the nursery rhyme into his own story, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
"The Queen of Hearts" relates that the Queen of Hearts bakes some tarts which the Knave of Hearts steals. The King of Hearts has the Knave punished, so he brings them back and pledges not to steal again.
- The queen of hearts,
- She made some tarts,
- All on a summer’s day;
- The knave of hearts
- He stole those tarts,
- And with them run away;
- The king of hearts
- Call’d for those tarts,
- And beat the knave full sore;
- The knave of hearts
- Brought back those tarts,
- And said he’ll ne’er steal more.
Although it was originally published in a magazine for adults, it eventually became best known as a nursery rhyme and by 1785 had been set to music.
Notes[]
- Queens began to appear in French playing cards and in tarot decks in the 1400s. The Queen of Hearts’ counterpart in the tarot deck is the Queen of Cups. The French associate the Queen of Hearts (Dame de Cœur) with the Biblical/Apocryphal character Judith, coincidentally associated with beheading as much as Carroll’s Queen of Hearts is.