Thomas Moore

Thomas Moore 1779-1852, Irish poet, b. Dublin. He achieved prominence in his day not only for his poetry but also for his love of Ireland and personal charm. A lawyer, he was for a time registrar of the admiralty court in Bermuda. He is remembered today for Irish Melodies, a group of lyrics published between 1808 and 1834 and set to music by Sir John Stevenson and others; the songs include several of lasting fame, such as "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms," "Oft in the Stilly Night," and "The Harp That Once through Tara's Halls." His amusing satires, Intercepted Letters; or, The Two-Penny Post Bag (1813) and The Fudge Family in Paris (1818), were widely read, and the long poem Lalla Rookh (1817), a lush romance of India and the Middle East, was one of the most popular poems of his day. Byron, who was his friend, left him his memoirs, which Moore later—on the advice of Byron's executor and friends—destroyed. His biography of Byron appeared in 1830 and is among his best prose works.

Bibliography: See biography by H. J. Jordan (2 vol., 1975); study by T. Tessier and J. Hogg (1981).

Moore, Thomas (b Dublin, 1779; d Devizes, 1852). Irish poet and musician. Self-taught musically. In 1802 began to write words and mus. of songs pubd. 1807–8 as Irish Melodies. By 1834, 10 sets of these melodies and folk-song arrs. had been pubd., the last 2 being harmonized by Bishop. Among the most enduring of his songs were The Last Rose of Summer (incorporated into Flotow's Martha), The Harp that Once in Tara's Halls, and The Minstrel Boy, the words of which he set to traditional tunes. His Lalla Rookh (1817) with its 4 interpolated poems (e.g. Paradise and the Peri), became the basis of several mus. comps. (by Spontini, Berlioz, Rubinstein, Stanford, Schumann, and Bantock).

Moore, Thomas (1779–1852), born in Dublin, published The Poetical Works of the late Thomas Little (1801), under which pseudonym Byron refers to him in English Bards and Scotch Reviewers. From 1808 to 1834 Moore continued to add to his Irish Melodies, which established him as the national bard of Ireland. He was a good musician and a skilful writer of patriotic and often nostalgic songs, which he set to Irish tunes, mainly of the 18th cent. Among his more famous songs are ‘The Harp that once through Tara's Halls’, ‘The Minstrel Boy’, and ‘The Last Rose of Summer’. The Twopenny Post Bag (1813) is a collection of satires directed against the prince regent. He acquired fame and a European reputation with the publication of Lalla Rookh (1817). In 1818 appeared the satirical and entertaining The Fudge Family in Paris. The Loves of the Angels (1823) enjoyed a considerable vogue and caused some scandal. In 1824 he was prevailed upon to permit the burning of Byron's Memoirs, which Byron (a close friend) had given to him. Among his other works may be mentioned his life of Sheridan (1825); The Epicurean (1827), a novel about a Greek philosopher; a life of Byron (1830); and a Life of Lord Edward Fitzgerald (1831).