1783–1824

Introduction

Born: Sep­tem­ber 23, 1783, Blooms­bu­ry, Mid­dle­sex, Eng­land.

Died: Ap­ril 13, 1824, Chip­ping On­gar, Essex, Eng­land.

Buried: Chip­ping On­gar, Essex, Eng­land.

Pseudonym: Q. Q.

Biography

Jane was the daught­er of en­grav­er and Con­gre­ga­tion­al min­is­ter Is­aac Tay­lor, and sis­ter of hymn­ist Ann Tay­lor Gil­bert.

Her first verse was print­ed in the 1804 Mi­nor’s Pock­et Book. The se­cu­lar world re­mem­bers Jane as the au­thor of Twin­kle, Twin­kle, Lit­tle Star. This line is from her po­em The Star, pub­lished in Rhymes for the Nur­se­ry (Lon­don, 1806).

Works

The Star

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the traveler in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often thro’ my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky.

’Tis your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the traveler in the dark,
Tho’ I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

Jane Taylor
Rhymes for the Nur­se­ry, 1806

Sources

Lyrics

  1. All the Lit­tle Birds Are Sleep­ing
  2. Almighty God, I’m Ve­ry Ill
  3. Almighty God, Who Dwell­est High
  4. Amid the Deep­est Shades of Night
  5. As In­fants Once to Christ Were Brought
  6. Child’s Con­fess­ion and Pray­er, A
  7. Come, Let Our Songs Re­sound
  8. Come Let Us Now For­get Our Mirth
  9. Come, My Fond, Flut­ter­ing Heart
  10. Come, My Love, and Do Not Spurn
  11. God Is So Good That He Will Hear
  12. God! What a Great and Aw­ful Name
  13. High on a Bright and Sun­ny Bed
  14. How Dread­ful, Lord, Will Be the Day
  15. How Dread­ful to Be Turned Away
  16. How Great in Zi­on Thou Art Praised
  17. I Saw an Old Cot­tage of Clay
  18. I Saw the Glo­r­ious Sun Arise
  19. I Thank the Lord, Who Lives on High
  20. If Je­sus Christ Was Sent
  21. In a Mo­dest, Hum­ble Mind
  22. Jesus Christ, My Lord and Sav­ior
  23. Jesus, Our Gen­tle Shep­herd
  24. King So­lo­mon of Old
  25. Lilies of the Field, The
  26. Lo, at Noon ’Tis Sud­den Night
  27. Lord, I Con­fess Thy Ten­der Care
  28. Lord, I Have Dared to Dis­o­bey
  29. Lord, I Would Own Thy Ten­der Care
  30. Lord, May a Few Poor Child­ren Raise
  31. Lord, Teach a Sin­ful Child to Pray
  32. Love and Kin­dness We May Mea­sure
  33. Moon Is Ve­ry Fair and Bright, The
  34. My Fa­ther, I Thank Thee for Sleep
  35. My Fa­ther, My Mo­ther, I Know
  36. Now Con­des­cend, Al­migh­ty King
  37. Now That My Jour­ney’s Just Be­gun
  38. O ’Tis a Fol­ly and a Crime
  39. O What Is Life? ’Tis Like a Flow­er
  40. Sailor’s Friend, The
  41. Some People Com­plain They Have No­thing to Do
  42. Stars, That on Your Won­drous Way
  43. There Is a Glo­ri­ous World of Light
  44. There Is a Path That Leads to God
  45. There Is a State Un­known, Un­seen
  46. This Day Be­longs to God Alone
  47. This Is a Pre­cious Book, In­deed
  48. Thou, Who Didst with Love and Bless­ing
  49. ’Tis but a Short Un­cer­tain Space
  50. We Of­fer, Lord, a Hum­ble Pray­er
  51. What Is There, Lord, a Child Can Do?
  52. When a Fool­ish Thought With­in
  53. When Dai­ly I Kneel Down to Pray
  54. When for Some Lit­tle In­sult Giv­en
  55. When Je­sus Christ Was Here Be­low
  56. When Lit­tle Sa­mu­el Woke
  57. When Sum­mer Flow­ers Ap­pear
  58. When to the House of God We Go
  59. Who Made the Sky So Bright and Blue?
  60. Who Taught the Bird to Build Her Nest?
  61. Young Child­ren Once to Je­sus Came

Help Needed

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Tay­lor (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),