Moore

mor, Thomas (1779-1852), an Irish poet. He was born at Dublin and was educated at Trinity College. He studied law. Byron for England, Burns for Scotland, and Moore for Ireland may be associated conveniently in the student's mind. All were popular writers, all three were dissipated and unchaste in life; but similarity stops here. Byron was terribly in earnest in his bitterness; Burns was at heart reverent and true; Moore was a successful fashionable rake, lacking in depth and sincerity. He began to write verses when a boy. While at Dublin University he translated the Odes of Anacreon. His early volumes of poetry were criticized severely but were widely read. In the Edinburgh Review Moore was denounced as a "corruptor of morals." A duel between the editor, Jeffrey, and Moore was the result of this criticism. Byron made sport of the affair and it was said that the pistols were loaded with saltpeter. However that may be, neither of the participants was hurt and they became excellent friends thereafter.

Lalla Rookh is a society rendering in verse of four gaudy eastern tales. It sold wonderfully and brought the author $15,000. The Fudge Family in Paris is written in a lighter vein.

Moore wrote a number of prose works, among them biographies of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and Lord Byron. His life of Byron is the best biography we have of that author, the two poets having been personal friends.