Nahum Tate (1652-July 30, 1715) was honored by England's royalty with the title of poet-laureate, December 24, 1692. He was acclaimed for his version of Shakespeare's King Lear, and for co- authoring Dryden's Absalom and Achitopel. In 1700, in his Christmas Hymn, Nahum Tate wrote:
<While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground,
The angel of the Lord came down,
And glory shone around.> 1652NT001
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1652NT001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Nahum Tate, 1700, in his Christmas Hymn, st. I. John Bartlett, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1855, 1980), p. 317.