Nahum Tate is best known today as the author of the most famous—and infamous—adaptation of a Shakespeare play, his version of King Lear. During his lifetime, he established himself as an all-around man of letters, producing a wide range of poetry and drama, most notably satirical poetry; translations of Ovid, Juvenal, and the Psalms of David; one of the earliest and most successful English farces; and the libretto for the greatest English opera of the seventeenth century. In 1692 he succeeded Thomas Shadwell as poet laureate, a position he held for twenty-two years.

Tate was probably born in Dublin in 1652, the son of Faithful Teate and Katherine Kenetie Teate. His father and both his grandfathers were clergymen. Faithful

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First published 11 August 2003

Citation: Corman, Brian. "Nahum Tate". The Literary Encyclopedia. 11 August 2003.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4317, accessed 9 February 2010.]