Excerpt from Poetry of Thomas Moore The natural enthusiasm of biographers provides a standard of classification even less trustworthy than that of the publishers. The eminent statesman whom Moore was indiscreet enough to name as his literary executor raised to the memory of his friend a monument of all that biography ought not to be. And even apart from biographical infelicity, the critical authority of Lord John Russell does not stand high. But at any rate he was warm and sincere in his appreciation of his friend. And when he claims for the author of the [risk Melodies that, of English Lyrical Poets, Moore is surely the first, ' if he cannot command our assent, at least he expresses a view which was held three-quarters of a century ago by some excellent judges of poetry. Nor is it certain that he was wrong in adding that, in the united excellence and abundance of his lyrical productions, no English poet can be compared with Moore._ For the body of Moore's lyrical poems is unusually large, and their average excellence singularly - well sustained. If the poet does not often soar'to-the topmost heights of Parnassus; he but'seldom-_descends_to - ifs' base. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.