Nahum Tate was the librettist for Dido and Aeneas. Tate had written an earlier play on the subject, and this may have given Purcell the idea.
Nahum Tate is an interesting character. He was a notoriously poor writer, and was heavily satirised in early versions of Alexander Pope's Dunciad (Pope eased up on Tate in later rewrites of the poem).
Almost all of Tate's poetry is now forgotten: but we still sing Dido and Aeneas and While Shepherds Watched.
One of the worst poets of his century wrote some of its best song lyrics.
a girl's school production in Chelsy.
The libretto was written by Nahum Tate.
opera
Baroque opera
Purcell's Dido and Aeneas
Dido and Aeneas (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell to a libretto by Nahum Tate.
Henrry Purcell
Aeneas last sees Dido in the Underworld. Aeneas and the Sibyll goes to the Underworld to see Anchises. Dido lives in the Underworld with her husband Sychaeus. Aeneas tries to talk to her, but she does not look at him.
Henry Purcell wrote the opera Dido and Aeneas in 1689. answer 2 Also - Dioclesian The Fairy-Queen The Indian Queen (play / opera) King Arthur
dido
Dido
The final song at the end of "Dido and Aeneas" is known as "Dido's Lament" or "When I am Laid in Earth." It is a powerful aria sung by Dido as she prepares for her death, expressing her sorrow and lament at being abandoned by Aeneas.