ABSTRACT
On 25 September 1803, Thomas Moore left England for the United States, where he was to take up a post as Registrar to the Court of Admiralty in Bermuda, a position he had received through the patronage of Lord Moira (Francis Rawdon-Hastings). Upon his return journey he embarked on a Grand Tour of sorts around America and Canada. His collection of poetry, Epistles, Odes, and Other Poems (1806), was based on his experiences at this time. Initially, Moore was excited at the prospect of travelling to America, believing that it was “the country of a new people, whose infancy had promised so much, and whose progress to maturity ha[d] been an object of such interesting speculation”. But America seemingly was unable to live up to his expectations. This chapter will discuss in detail how the publication of the Epistles, Odes, and Other Poems can be viewed as a starting point for the political commentary which Moore engaged in throughout the rest of his writing career, closely examining the political commentary which he makes within the Epistles, and comparing this with other, later pertinent political writings which he published. This chapter will demonstrate that even when Moore was engaging with British and American politics, and the international setting in general, he was ultimately, by allusion, commenting on Ireland’s political situation, from these early writings right until the end of his career.
