Tappan was a clock mak­er, pas­tor, and evan­gel­ist. In 1822, he be­came Su­per­in­tend­ent of the Amer­i­can Sun­day School Un­ion. In 1849, he was or­dained as a Congrega­tional min­is­ter. His works in­clude:

• New Eng­land and Other Po­ems, 1819
• Poems, 1822
• Lyrics, 1822
• Poetry of the Heart, 1845
• Sac­red and Mis­cel­lan­e­ous Po­ems, 1848
• Poetry of Life, 1848
• The Sun­day School and Other Po­ems, 1848
• Late and Early Po­ems, 1849
• Sacred Po­ems, 1849
• Gems of Sac­red Po­e­try, 1860

• Erickson, p. 406
• Julian, pp. 1114-5

1. Ho­ly Be This as Was the Place
2. Ransomed Spir­it to Her Home, The
3. There Is an Hour of Hal­lowed Peace
4. There Is an Hour of Peace­ful Rest
5. ’Tis Mid­night, and on Ol­ive’s Brow
6. Wake, Isles of the South
7. When Sor­row Casts Its Shades Around Us
8. While the Sol­emn Note of Time