MOORE, THOMAS An Irish poet, born in Dublin. Nay 28. 1779. Having been for a while under an eccentric schoolmaster named Malone. Moore went to a grammar school kept by Samuel Whyte. In 1794 he went to Trinity College, Dublin, which had been opened to Roman Catholics in 1793. He had already shown a remarkably quick mind, a gift for music, and had written in 1793 "Lines to Zelia" and "A Pastoral Ballad." These verses appeared in the Anthologia Hibernica, a periodical which lived only two years. Moore began his university life in 1795. He won some fame as a wit, hut few honors. He went to London in 1799 and soon arranged for the publication by sub scription of his Anacreon. He was vexed on discovering that the Irish subscribers numbered two. the Provost and a Fellow of Trinity, but he had the good luck to find a patron in the Prince of Wales. who accepted the dedication of the poem. The Anacreon was followed by Poetical Works of the Laic Thomas Liltle (1801), a volume of sweet but over-sensuous verse, much blamed but widely read. Moore's musical talents soon made him a welcome guest among g the aris In 1803 he was appointed admiralty registrar at Bermuda ; but disliking the post. he intrusted it to a deputy (1801), and traveled through the United States, where he visited New York. Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Boston. lie returned to England in November, 1804. In 1806 appeared Odes and Epistles. which Jeffrey made the occasion for a savage attack 011 Moore's earlier erotics (Edinburgh. Rrrictr, July, 1806). The incident led to a duel interrupted by the police (August 11, 1806). After this fiasco the combatants became cordial friends. In 1807 Moore published his Irish Melodies, 124 in number, in ten parts. He thus became the lyrist of Ireland. whose poetic side he fancifully and pathetically revealed to the English people. llis three satires. "Corruption" and "Intolerance" (1808) and the (1809). fell flat, as they deserved to do. On the other hand. lam poons on the Regent and his favorites went from mouth to mouth and were still liked when they were gathered in 'The Twopenny Post Bag" in 1813. About 1817 he became embarrassed by the
defalcation of the deputy left at Bermuda. and was compelled to retire for a time to the Con tinent. At Venice he visited Lord Byron, from whom he received the famous Memoirs. after wards reluctantly burned. _Moore returned to England in 1822. In 1835 lie was granted a literary pension of £300, which was supplemented in 1850 by a civil pension of £100. Ile died at Sloperton. February 25, 1852. Lord John Rus sell and Lord Lansdowne were his friends to the end.
Moore was as popular in his day as either Byron or Scott. As a poet his fame now rests mostly upon the Irish Melodies (10 pts.. 1807-34) and National Airs (1815). containing "Oft in time Stilly Night." Since the Elizabethan age the lyric had been dissociating itself from music. Moore again united them. and so completely that it is unfair to estimate his lyrics independently. They are light, airy, and graceful, though with out the passion of Byron or Shelley. For a great poem by which he expected to be remembered, he turned to Oriental romance. l.alla Rookh (1817), everywhere applauded, was translated into several languages. Among Moore's other works are: The Fudge Family in Paris (1818), humorous verses: The Lores of the Angels (1823). partly in imitation of Byron's Hearen and Earth: The Memoirs of Captain Rock (182-1). an attack on the Irish Church : a prose romance entitled The Epicurean (1827) : lives of Sheridan (1825), Byron ( 1830 ) . Edward Fitzgerald ( 1831 ) ; and a History of Ireland (completed in 1846). The Life of Byron. the main source for all later biographies, is still a classic. Consult: Lord John Russell (ed.), Memoirs.Journrrls and Corre spondence of Moore (S vols.. London. 1853 56) ; Kent, Poetical Works, with memoir. (London, 1883) ; Cr. Vallal, Thomas Moore, sr, rip rt scs a-acres (Paris. 1887) ; and Gunning. Thomas Moore, Port and Patriot (London. 1900).